A Road Trip
by UnicornRainbows
Summary: The family go on a road trip three thousand miles away to visit one of Danny's cousins in Maine. Read what happens to them as they go and see what's out there in the USA!
1. Prologue

**A Road Trip**

Prologue

_Dear Danny,_

_Hello! Long time, no answer! You're probably wondering who I am and why I'm writing. Remember me? Cousin Bethany? Remember all the times during the summer when you and your mom and dad and sister Wendy came to our little cottage near Kennebunkport, Maine? Remember the town of Eveton? Of course, it was nearly twenty years since I last saw you here with your friend Joey (And by God, I do remember Joey.). _

_Anyway, I'm still living in Maine in the same cottage. Mom and Dad (your aunt Cynthia and Uncle Jimmy) died long ago and left me the house, since I have no brothers and sisters. I'm living in the house now with my husband, Phillip and our four children; Amaria; 15, Parker; 11, Jamie Kate; 6 and Dylan; 11 months._

_I heard all about your wife Pam's death from a family friend. I'm so deeply sorry. I'd only met her after your oldest daughter was born, and I wasn't really that close with her, but my prayers and thoughts are still with you. _

_Okay, enough blabbering! What I'm really writing to you is to ask you a favor: How would you like to visit our cottage in Maine and hopefully buying it from me? I'm thinking about selling for a home in New York and who better to give my old home to than you? Besides, this will be a good excuse for you to take a nice vacation, right where we all used to have fun. You don't have to move to Maine for good. It can be a nice summer home if you'd like. And furthermore, I'd love to see you and your family. I've heard great things about them; Joey's show, Jesse's band...so bring them along as well. I'd love to see Joey, Wendy, and Jesse! And of course, you as well! So, please come!_

_Love,_

_Cousin Bethany_

Stephanie

**That's** the postcard we received this morning at breakfast. Usually, someone like my older sister D.J. or Dad picked up the mail, but not today. I was up and early. I was expecting a package from the Tommy Page fan club, so I wanted to make sure I was the first one to get the mail.

Well, there was no package. All there was were bills, junk mail, and a flyer for a Rice-A-Roni eating competition (I'll give that to Kimmy; she loves that stuff). But when I saw the postcard, I just _had_ to read it. After all, who would write us from all the way in Maine? And after I finished reading it, all I could think of was: _We're going on vacation? I hope Dad decides not to move us to Maine._

It was almost the end of school and I knew my dad needed the vacation time considering the sheer fact that he's been working like a dog at that studio. A vaca was just what he needed. It was what we _all _needed. Even though I hoped Dad wouldn't want to move to Maine, I had to thank Bethany, whoever she was for giving us the excuse to take a vacation in the first place.

After I told Dad and the rest of the family about the postcard, first I got a scolding for reading his mail (when it concerns all of us). Then we discussed the situation. Dad wanted to go, but he wasn't sure on how to get there. Aunt Becky was afraid it might clash with something she wanted to do at work. D.J. didn't want to leave her boyfriend, Steve. Michelle didn't want to leave her friends and Uncle Jesse was a little skeptical about it. The only ones who wanted to go were Dad, Vicky, Joey, and me. (Hey, like I said, I wanted to leave the house for awhile.)

Dad compromised with everyone after that. Aunt Becky would have to get a sub co-host for the show she shares with my dad, we all could bring a couple of friends, and we could all pinpoint a location anywhere in the USA to visit. Uncle Jesse perked up at this, insisting that he go to Graceland, the hometown or whatever of Elvis.

Here is the complete trip lineup:

Dad, Joey, Uncle Jesse, Vicky, Aunt Becky, D.J., Michelle, Kimmy (Yes, her. Oh, groan), Steve, Denise, Aunt Wendy, Nicky, Alex, and me (I didn't really have anyone I wanted to go with, since my best friend Gia went to Canada to visit family friends).

The only trouble was getting there. Try fitting all of us in a minivan. Nope, not gonna work. So Dad rented two RVs and split one half of the family up to go to the northern part of the US and the other half in the southern part. He even calculated the time and distance (Two weeks of traveling across the country; three thousand miles), how much gas, food, and hotels would cost in each state...He was on a roll, until Joey put duct tape on his mouth to shut him up. Dad had decided not to move to Maine for good, but he was thinking about having it as a summer home, so that made me feel even better about the trip.

When everyone had been called, the RVs rented, the planning had been made, the places had been pinpointed, I finally laid down on my bed, my brain exhausted with too much going on in my mind. _We're going on a road trip. We're going on a road trip! ROAD TRIP! _


	2. Chapter One: DJ

Chapter One

D.J.

_Sunday_

_Okay, it's official. All of us are traveling cross-country on our way to Maine. We've all decided where we want to go and who's riding with whom and who's driving. If only we could finish packing and stop yakking so we could leave._

_My idea to have trip journals is genius...My teachers will be impressed..._

"**Where **are the keys to the RV?" Dad bellowed in frustration.

Aunt Becky, who was trying to wrestle my twin cousins, Nicky and Alex away from the street, replied, "Ask Jess. I think he put them in his luggage by mistake."

Dad groaned and walked back inside the house. My littlest sister, Michelle and her best friend, Denise, were sitting on the curb singing cartoon theme songs. Joey, of course, joined in with gusto. Stephanie was inside one of the RVs with the music blasting. Uncle Jesse was talking to his radio show boss loudly on the phone. Me? Aside from waiting for my best friend and boyfriend to show up, I was totally about to lose my mind. I was trying to get organized. Trip journals and not only that, but I had to make sure everyone knew where they were going and that everyone was here. But I couldn't concentrate, so I blew my whistle for silence.

"Thanks. Um, I need to know where everyone is going...Uh..."

"I'm going to Seattle. The Space Needle's going to be a blast," Vicky, my dad's girlfriend piped up.

"Wow! That sounds cool! I wanna see that!" Michelle exclaimed.

"I thought you wanted to see Four Corners," Denise reminded her.

Michelle's face fell. "Oh, yeah," she replied. Then she brightened. "I can stand in four states at one time!"

"I'm dying to see New Orleans. I want to get me some Cajun food. And Jesse and I agreed to take Nicky and Alex to the San Diego Zoo," Aunt Becky told me.

"Okay...anyone else?" I asked, writing everything down.

It wasn't easy, but I managed to get everything. Here are our trip destinations:

**_Vicky: Seattle_**

**_Dad: Mount Rushmore_**

**_Denise: A rodeo in Texas (anywhere)_**

**_Aunt Becky: New Orleans, LA_**

**_Joey: The Grand Canyon_**

**_Uncle Jesse: Graceland in Memphis, TN_**

**_Michelle: Four Corners_**

**_Stephanie: Washington D.C._**

**_Nicky and Alex: San Diego Zoo_**

**_Steve: Chicago_**

**_Kimmy: Bloomington, MN_**

**_Me: Philadelphia, PA_**

**_Aunt Wendy: Virginia Beach_**

"Figured it out yet?" Aunt Becky asked, craning her neck to see my handwriting.

"Yeah. Dad, Vicky, Steve, Stephanie, Kimmy, and I are traveling north. Unless Steve and Kimmy get here, it'll only be four people."

Stephanie, by this time, had turned the music off. "You mean, I'm traveling with Gibbler!? Across the country? Oh, God. My wish has come true."

"I thought you hated Kimmy," Denise replied.

"I do. I was being sarcastic."

"What's scartastic mean?"

"Never mind, Denise. Anyway, who's driving south?"

"Who'd you think? Me, of course. Why?" Uncle Jesse replied.

Stephanie blushed. "Nothing. Just asking. Uh-"

Michelle jumped up and down. "WOOOHOO! Going to see Four Corners is going to be cool, but traveling with Uncle Jesse will be even cooler!"

"Well, I'm glad _someone _wants to travel with me. Thanks, munchkin."

Dad and Stephanie looked at each other. I think they were thinking the same thing I was thinking: Uncle Jesse, in an RV? No offense to him, but he's not really the RV type. Uncle Jesse's more the motorcycle or hot rod type.

"Uh, maybe Wendy can drive the RV?" Dad suggested.

"You think I'm a terrible driver?" Uncle Jesse asked.

Dad shook his head. "No, I just think that RVs aren't really your thing and-"

"Hey, just because I like motorcycles, doesn't mean-"

"HEY! STOP!" Aunt Wendy yelled, stopping Dad and Uncle Jesse in mid-sentence.

When all was quiet, she spoke up. "Danny, you aren't even driving with us, so leave Jesse alone."

Uncle Jesse stuck his tongue out at Dad. Dad just made a face.

"Real mature, you guys," I replied.

Aunt Wendy just rolled her eyes. "But all the folks who are eligible enough to drive...well, we can take turns. Danny and Vicky in the north RV and Jesse, Joey, Becky and I can drive the other."

"Hey, what about me? I got my license. I'm eligible!" I said indigently.

Aunt Wendy gave the matter some thought. "Okay. Maybe your father can work out some kind of compromise with you."

I looked at Dad hopefully and eagerly. Dad looked apprehensively at Vicky, who nodded in agreement with me. "Well, she _does _have her license," she shot back in defense when Dad glared at her.

Then, Dad sighed. "Alright, alright. You can drive the RV," he said in defeat.

"YES!" I shouted.

"But only on the small roads. You're not really ready for the highway yet."

My face fell in disappointment. "I knew you wouldn't let me get away that easy," I replied.

Michelle stared at her Barbie watch. "Can't we leave _now_? What are we waiting for?"

"For Kimmy and Steve," I said. "We can't leave without them."

"Well, can't we just pick up Steve and leave Kimmy behind?" Stephanie asked. "Wouldn't we _all_ love to leave Kimmy behind?"

"Who'd love to leave me?" Kimmy asked from behind, making us all jump. Behind her, was my boyfriend, Steve.

"Sorry we're so late, but Kimmy picked me up from my house to take her to a shoe store," Steve replied, rolling his eyes. "Actually, she _made _me go with her."

"You can never have enough shoes on a cross country trip," Kimmy added.

"You can never have enough foot powder either," Stephanie cracked.

"Can it, Miss Brainiac," Kimmy shot back.

"Zip it, Halfwit."

"Squirt!"

"Moron!"

Steve grimaced. "Am I riding with them?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, you are. So am I," I replied.

"Great. Just what I needed," he replied sarcastically.

"Can we leave _now_? The USA is waiting for us!" Michelle replied.

Dad sighed. Then he began to yell. "Okay, whoever's riding north, please stand here," he said, pointing to the RV he was standing next to. Vicky, Kimmy, Stephanie, Steve, and I put our luggage neatly in the compartment underneath the RV (thanks to Dad). Everyone from the south RV just threw his or hers in. Seizing the opportunity, I gave Aunt Becky one of the trip journals and quickly told her the purpose.

"I'll be the first one writing in it. Good idea, D.J.," she said.

"Okay, are we _really_ ready to leave?" Joey asked in his best impression of a little boy.

"I hope. Hey, if we make it in time, we might be the first in line to see the Elvis impersonators show at Graceland," Uncle Jesse replied. He looked at his watch. "Whoa! We're behind schedule! Let's go!"

"I'm right behind you!" Michelle said, grabbing Comet and dragging him into the RV.

We watched as Joey, Aunt Wendy, Denise, Aunt Becky and the twins followed them inside.

"Wait! Jesse, where are my keys to this RV?" Dad yelled.

"In the kitchen!" Uncle Jesse told him.

"Oh, thanks!"

Uncle Jesse started the ignition. "We'll see you guys in two weeks in Maine!" he shouted.

"Bye, you guys!" Aunt Becky yelled from the passenger seat next to Uncle Jesse. Michelle was standing between them, waving like a nut.

"See ya, Daddy! Bye, Stephanie! Bye, D.J.! Bye, Steve! Bye, Vicky!" she shouted (ignoring Kimmy) as the RV backed up onto the street.

"Take care of my little princess, you guys! Bye, Michelle! Bye, everyone!" Dad called.

We all kept waving as the RV descended down the street.

"BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" We all yelled. Uncle Jesse honked the horn. The RV soon disappeared from view a few seconds later. After they were gone, I said, "Okay, we have to leave now. Is everyone here? Is"

"Deej, you're starting to get on my nerves. Please, calm down," Stephanie replied. I just rolled my eyes at her.

"Hey, when we get to Maine, can we stop in Kittery?" Kimmy asked.

"For lobster?" Steve asked.

"No way. To go to Yummies, the biggest candy store in the world."

"We're all going to Bloomington to see your great-grandmother," Dad reminded her, grimacing at the thought of seeing one of Kimmy's relatives.

Stephanie made a face. "Ugh. More Gibblers."

"C'mon. Let's leave now. We've got a lot of ground to cover," Vicky replied.

"Well, let me just get the keys and we'll be out of here in no time," Dad said.

We all sat inside the spacious, monstrous RV and waited for Dad. About twenty minutes later, he came back.

"What took you so long, honey?" Vicky asked.

"Sorry, but I was checking all the rooms to see if they were clean and tidy and then every door and window to check the locks and then the burglar alarm and..."

"Boy, I'm beginning to wish I'd rode with Uncle Jesse and the others," Stephanie replied.

"Can we go now, before we start a riot, Mr. T?" Kimmy replied.

Dad ignored her and turned the ignition.

Finally, we were leaving! I grabbed Steve's hand as we drove along down the street, away from our home.


	3. Chapter Two: Michelle

Chapter Two

Michelle

_Monday_

_Okay, D.J. Here's my entry in this trip journal for you. _

_First of all, I'm writing this while lying flat on my back on the bed in the back of the RV. We've been driving for hours. Maybe more, I'm not sure. Anyway, yesterday, we stopped at a Burger King for dinner and a Holiday Inn for the night. The very next day, we continued driving. Uncle Jesse says we're about an hour away from San Diego and then we'll go to the SDZ. Nicky and Alex seem to be excited...I think..._

**I'd** been in that RV for hours. It was a relief to get out and stretch and breathe some nice fresh air. In fact, the only time I remembered leaving the car today was the bathroom break and that was three hours ago. About five hours more of driving, Nicky was flushing paper towels down the toilet and Aunt Becky was beginning to fuss at Uncle Jesse.

"Jess, the kids are bored and restless. Can't we stop somewhere and take a break?" she begged.

But Uncle Jesse shook his head. "No way. San Diego's about an hour away. Besides, I packed away some of their favorite toys," he said. He called Joey. "Joey! Can you get the boys' toys out of that bag? They're over there," he said, pointing to a corner near the bunk bed Denise and I share.

"How much longer do we have to get there?" I asked crabbily.

Joey set the toys down near the twins. "Are you bored, Michelle?" he asked.

"Duh!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is BOR-ING!" Denise agreed.

Aunt Becky glared at Uncle Jesse malevolently. "I don't blame you one bit, you guys. We wouldn't be so cramped and bored if _someone _would stop the RV for twenty minutes-"

"Beck, the faster we visit all these other places, the faster we'll get to Tennessee."

Aunt Becky snorted. "We? Who's '_we_'?" she asked.

Uncle Jesse looked a little sheepish. "Okay, me. Me, okay? What's wrong with rushing a little?"

Aunt Becky stared at Uncle Jesse incredulously as if to say 'Is he serious?'

"Hello! This is our vacation, too! Why should we rush our vacation time just so you can see some stupid Elvis museum?"

"Hey, Elvis is _not_ stupid! You're the one who wants to go to New Orleans and sample Cajun food and look at boring French museums!"

Aunt Becky looked furious, but she turned to Joey and Aunt Wendy for help. Aunt Wendy shrugged and Joey shook his head. "Hey, he's your husband," he said.

Denise tapped my shoulder. "C'mon. Let's play cards or something. Those grown-ups are starting to get on my nerves," she whispered.

I nodded in agreement. Denise and I went into the middle of the RV and found a card table. We both played games of gin rummy and go fish. About twenty games of cards later, we heard Aunt Becky reply, "Oh! There's a rest area about a mile away. Jess, we have to stop."

"C'mon, Beck. We have no time for-"

"Jesse Katsopolis, I thought we talked about this! This is not just your vacation and I won't let you dictate everyone else's. Now, stop!"

"But-"

"Stop the damn RV!" Aunt Becky yelled furiously.

Whoa. I think time stopped when Aunt Becky started yelling. Joey's eyes widened. Aunt Wendy looked from Aunt Becky to Uncle Jesse in surprise. Nicky and Alex stopped playing with their toys and Denise and I looked at each other in shock. It wasn't so much that we heard swearing, but what bothered us most was the fact that we'd never seen Aunt Becky so mad before. Ever.

Uncle Jesse looked more surprised than everyone else. He blinked stupidly and then nodded. "Uh...Sure, Becky," he stammered. He drove towards the exit to the rest area. I noticed the hurt in his voice.

Aunt Becky looked very guilty. "Jess, I'm sorry. It's just that-"

"No, no. You don't have to apologize. Becky, you're right. I'm being selfish and-"

"But I shouldn't have yelled like that. I'm sor-"

"You don't have to apologize, alright? Can we just drop it, okay?" he asked forcefully.

Aunt Becky nodded meekly and stared out the window. Everyone else just fell silent. Even Joey and the twins. It made me feel sick to my stomach. All of a sudden, this trip was turning out to be a drag and no fun. I wanted to go home. But most of all, I wanted Dad. He could make me feel better. I didn't want to go to Four Corners if this was what the outcome of the trip was going to be; Fighting and arguing.

When I couldn't stand the silence any longer, I went into the bathroom and found Nicky and Alex, both crying.

"Guys, what's wrong?" I whispered, closing the door gently.

"Mommy and Daddy fighting," Nicky explained.

"Wanna go home," Alex added.

"But I thought you wanted to go to the zoo," I reminded them.

Nicky shook his head stubbornly. "No! Wanna go home!" he shouted.

I sighed unhappily. Nicky and Alex were feeling the same way I was.

"I'm not happy about this either, okay? But we have to brave and put on a happy face. You don't want your mom and dad to know you know that they've been yelling at each other. It'll spoil the vacation."

But, to no avail, the boys still refused to reason with me. So I grabbed both their hands and took them out of the bathroom. We'd stopped at the road stop by then by some old picnic tables. Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky were still going at it. Furious, I stood right between them and replied, "I hope you're happy! You've got two people who you've got some explaining to do!" I yelled coolly, cutting right through the argument.

All the adults stared at me dumbfounded and surprised. They looked at the twins' tearstained faces and my furious and red one. Without waiting for an answer, I stomped away, back to the RV. I ignored the calls of Uncle Jesse and the others. I wanted to find a payphone somewhere so I could call Dad or Vicky or D.J. so that one of them would come and pick me up. But I also knew that they were far away from home, probably in some other state, so they wouldn't turn around from wherever they were and come to Southern California just to pick me up.

_Then I'll just find my way back to San Francisco_, I thought. I smiled at the thought. I just _had _to leave. I was tired of boredom. Tired of silence. But most of all, I was tired of all the fighting.

I slammed the door of the RV and proceeded to pack up my suitcase. I was so flustered and unaware that someone was behind me, so I just kept putting all of my things into my suitcase. When I had put the last T-shirt away, I picked up my heavy suitcase and proceeded to leave. A figure was blocking me, so I screamed.

"Shhh! Munchkin, it's me," the figure replied. It sounded like Uncle Jesse. It was hard to see in the semi-darkness of the RV.

"Uncle Jesse?" I asked a little uncertainly.

"Of course it's me. Who else would call you 'munchkin'? Anyway, what's with the suitcase?"

I stared at him in disbelieve. He really had no clue?

"I can't take this anymore. You and Aunt Becky are fighting and Nicky and Alex are sad and this vacation isn't any fun because it's boring and everyone's mad. I'm going to go back home and wait for Dad to come back," I informed him in an angry and breathless rush.

Uncle Jesse's face fell. "I was wondering why you were so quiet. You don't want to go back home. Your dad won't be back in two weeks. You don't want to stay there by yourself, now will you?"

"It doesn't matter. At least I won't have to hear you and Aunt Becky yelling at each other," I said.

Uncle Jesse sighed. "Ouch. Listen, Michelle. I'm sorry you're upset about everything that's been going on today. I think your Aunt Becky had a good reason for yelling at me. I _have_ been a bit of a jerk, I'll admit. C'mon, let's sit down. I want to tell you something," he said, leading me towards the card table.

Once we were set, he plunged on. "Michelle, I'm sorry if this vacation hasn't been any fun. I mean, once you think about yourself, the vacation _does_ become boring."

"But why were you acting like a jerk? I mean, before Aunt Becky yelled at you?" I asked.

Uncle Jesse sighed again. "Well, Shorty, it's kinda of a bit of a long story," he relented.

"I'm all ears," I replied, perking up a little. I loved to hear Uncle Jesse's stories.

"Well, alright. You see, when I was about your age, my family always went on summer vacations like this one every year. But we always went somewhere that I didn't want to go or somewhere that was out of our price range. The last vacation was when I was about thirteen or so, but at that time, I was tired of them, so I was put with my aunt at her place. Man, it was a drag, though."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, because she was so strict and mean and bossy...Cramped my style. Anyway, when this vacation came about, I got carried away because I was finally going someplace I wanted to go for a change. But, I was acting like a jerk. So, I'm sorry. Are we forgiven?"

I gave him a half-smile. "I guess so. But can I ask you something?"

"Name it."

"Promise me you won't fight with anyone on this trip?"

"Well, I can't guarantee _that_," he replied.

"Huh?" I replied, bewildered.

"If Joey hogs the bathroom one more time..."

I giggled and rolled my eyes. Uncle Jesse laughed. "Hey, Munchkin, let's shake on this, okay? Like old times, alright?"

"No more arguments?" I asked.

"No more arguments. Deal?"

"It's a done deal," I said. We both did our little Elvis shake and sealed the deal.

"So, have you apologized to Aunt Becky yet? Has she apologized to you?" I asked.

"There's no need," a woman's voice replied from behind, startling us. We turned our heads to find the voice. The voice belonged to Aunt Becky, who was standing by the door.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Uncle Jesse asked.

Aunt Becky nodded. "I couldn't help it. I mean, Joey and Wendy sent me in here to apologize to you and Michelle, but I happened to hear you guys talking by mistake. I'm sor-"

Uncle Jesse shook his head. "No more apologizing, either. Beck, look, I know I've been a jerk. This vacation was supposed to be fun and you had every right to snap at me. _Someone _needed to kick my butt and tell me I was doing something wrong. 'Cause I know I had no clue."

Aunt Becky giggled. "Well, okay. We can let bygones be bygones and enjoy the rest of the trip. And this vacation can still be fun, you know. You said there's only an hour until we get to the zoo, right? So...you wanna..." She trailed off.

Realizing I was still here, Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse stared at me. "Uh, Michel-" Uncle Jesse began to say.

"I'm outta here," I said, quickly leaving. I smirked as I closed the door. Giggling and some other sounds were right behind the door.

Outside the RV, Aunt Wendy, Joey, Denise and the twins all were waiting expectantly.

"Well?" Joey asked.

"Well what?" I asked.

"Is everything okay? How are Mr. and Mrs. Katsopolis?" Denise asked.

"Oh, they're fine. They apologized and it's great," I replied.

Aunt Wendy and Joey breathed great sighs of relief.

"I think I'll have a quick chat with them," Aunt Wendy replied.

"Not just yet. Uh, they're..." I trailed off, blushing.

Aunt Wendy got the message immediately. "Oh, okay. Good. Okay, I'm driving?"

"Doing what? What are they doing?" Joey asked.

"Never you mind, Joey. Michelle, can you and Denise buckle up the twins, please?"

"Sure," I replied.

Denise and I carefully and gingerly set Nicky and Alex in their booster seats. Then we sat down in our seats as Aunt Wendy turned the ignition and we slowly drove away from the rest area.

* * *

About an hour and a half later, we arrived to the San Diego Zoo. And what fun did we have! We saw monkees, apes, lions, birds, and reptiles. We rode in a tram and went on a safari. We visited different areas of the zoo and saw polar bears and other different things. After four hours, we took a lunch break at a small hot dog stand.

"Are we allowed to feed the animals?" I asked, swallowing the last of my hot dog.

Uncle Jesse slurped his Coke. "C'mon, Munchkin. You read that 'Do Not Feed The Animals' sign, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. But Joey didn't."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I pointed. Everyone turned around and looked. Joey was trying to slip one of his hot dogs to a chimpanzee through the bars.

"Oh, shhh!" Aunt Becky shushed, giggling. She quickly took out her camera.

Meanwhile, the chimp stared at the hot dog for a second. Then he grinned and without warning, politely threw it in Joey's face; ketchup, relish, mustard and all.

Aunt Becky snapped the picture and we all laughed hysterically.

"Man, I wish Danny and the others were here to see this," Aunt Wendy replied, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Aunt Becky wiped her eyes, too. "Well, they will when they see the pictures I took," she replied.

Joey came back, wiping mustard off his face.

"Hey, he made a great shot, huh?" Uncle Jesse asked, laughing hysterically again. Joey glared at him.

"For your information, he wasn't hungry," he said.

"Did he tell you that when he whipped that hot dog at you?" Aunt Becky teased. We began laughing again except for Joey.

We left the zoo and went back to the RV. Joey showered and the rest of us sat while Aunt Becky drove.

"Okay, tonight, we'll be staying at a Hilton hotel for a couple of days and then we'll be on our way to Arizona," she told us.

"Grand Canyon, here we come!" Joey exclaimed in his Yosemite Sam imitation.

I smiled as I sat snugly in the soft chair next to Denise as we drove down the semi-dark highway. I began to fall asleep as the sun went down across the sky.


	4. Chapter Three: Stephanie

Chapter Three

Stephanie

_Monday_

_Private Journal of Stephanie Tanner_

_Writing from our hotel room in Seattle. We arrived yesterday and already, everyone wants to sightsee. The next morning, Dad wakes up super-early (he's nuts, I tell ya.), but we ignored him. A few hours later, everyone's gone. Apparently, they'd tried to wake me up, but I wouldn't get up, according to a note D.J. left me. Dad says I'll have to explore the hotel instead because he doesn't want me all alone in a strange city. But it's all good...I met someone and we went to all the places around Seattle..._

**How **on Earth could my own family ditch me like that? Here I was inside this boring hotel room, completely bored out of my mind. TV was old, room service was limited and the hotel itself was stupid. It didn't even have a pool.

I stared at the half-eaten bag of Fritos on the coffee table and then out the window at the view outside. Our room was on the 14th floor, so we had a pretty good sight of the city. It reminded me of why we took this trip in the first place: To sightsee.

Desperate, I quickly showered, got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, grabbed my purse and extra hotel room key. Then I was out the door before I even knew what I was doing.

While waiting for the elevator to arrive, I half-expected Dad to pop out between those doors and then ground me for life for sneaking out. But instead of Dad, another face popped out at me. It was a boy. A cute boy my age with sandy-blond hair tied up in a ponytail, freckles on his nose, sharp blue eyes, pouty lips, and a height that could put other guys I know to shame. He was wearing a black shirt, jean shorts, and white sneakers.

I looked at my own attire in disdain. I had on my old Jesse & The Rippers T-shirt, a pair of D.J.'s old black flip flops, my black frilly miniskirt, and one of Michelle's scrunchies I'd managed to swipe from her.

I smiled nervously at the boy. He smiled back. Then, unexpectedly, he replied, "You're a Jesse & The Rippers fan, too?"

I smiled modestly. "Yeah, I am. I mean, I know the frontman. He's my uncle, Jesse Katsopolis."

The boy's eyes widened. "Get outta here! That dude's my role model! I'm in my own band and we look up to him. Is he really your uncle?"

"I swear. Look, I'll even prove it," I said. I took a picture of Uncle Jesse with Aunt Becky, the twins, and Michelle.

After pointing everyone out, the boy grinned widely. "Yep, that's him alright. Man, I can't believe he's your uncle. That's so cool! Jesse is the man!"

I laughed inwardly, imagining what Uncle Jesse would do if he were here to listen to this boy. He'd probably melt into a great big blob of hair mousse.

The boy groaned. "Sorry about those manners of mine, you know? I forgot to introduce myself. I was just...Um...I'm Jayden McCarthy. You are?"

"Uh...Stephanie Tanner. Nice to meet you," I said shyly. I was almost shocked that this boy e_ven _wanted to talk to me.

We shook hands. Then Jayden asked, "So, are you from Seattle?"

"No. I'm from San Francisco, actually. I'm on vacation with some of my family and friends. Are you from here?"

"Yeah. I was actually on my way to see my sister, Paige-Margaret. She owns this hotel and I had to talk to her. How do you like it?"

"It's boring. I'm sorry, but how can you expect to have a good time here when there's no pool?"

Jayden grimaced. "Yeah, I agree with you. Paige-Margaret has been getting a lot of complaints from people about this place."

We talked for about ten more minutes until Jayden mentioned sightseeing.

"I haven't seen anything. I was supposed to go with my family, but they ditched me because I overslept," I told him, leaving out the part about sneaking out.

Jayden bit his lip. "Um...well...I know you don't know me that well, but I'd like to show you around Seattle, if that's okay?"

"Uh...I guess it's a possibility. I mean, we leave tomorrow and it'll be a looooooooooo time before I see Seattle again..." I said, trailing off.

"Then come with me. I'll take you to the Woodland Zoo, The Pike Place Public Market, Elliott Bay, The Space Needle-"

"Did you say The Space Needle? I've always wanted to go there!"

Jayden beamed. Then he extended his arm. "Shall we?" he asked.

I happily obliged. "I'd absolutely love to," I said, linking my arm with his.

* * *

I never knew how much I had in common with Jayden. He loved writing just as much as I did (although he's a songwriter, as he's in his own band, The Wahh Wahh Crybabies.). 

He's also very smart, has an eye for all the greatest dancers, and we both have a secret taste for pineapple pizza. Jayden also had good ideas on where to go. He took me all over Seattle to places like Kerry Park, Elliott Bay, The Pike Place Public Market, and to a local/indie music store so I could see his latest CD. That's when I met the other band members; Carlos, Trish, Quintin, David, and Mary Linda. I ended up buying two CDs; one was the Wahh Wahh Crybabies and the other was by a rocker chick named Jeana Walker Taylor for Gia.

After I said good-bye to Jayden's friends, Jayden brought me to a pizza parlor for lunch. We ordered some pineapple slices and sodas. As we ate, Jayden asked in disbelieve, "Man, this is good! How can anybody not like pineapple pizza?"

"Yeah, they're crazy," I agreed.

Jayden drank some of his Mountain Dew. "Hey, after lunch, I'm taking you to the Woodland Zoo. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Absolutely. Animals rock," I said.

"Great. Well, let's finish eating and then we can leave," he said, smiling at me. I nearly blushed.

After we ate, Jayden paid the bill and the two of us rode a double decker bus to the Woodland Zoo.

It might have been the pizza or the fact Jayden and I were the only passengers riding the bus, but for some reason unknown, Jayden grabbed my hand. I nearly jumped out of my seat.

"This ride can get pretty bumpy," he told me. "So you might want to be careful not to fall or something."

"Oh," I said, a little disappointed. I sat back and tried to enjoy the ride.

* * *

Okay, we visited the zoo. It was cool, but nothing could prepare me for what was about to come. It was almost sundown when Jayden and I arrived to The Space Needle. The Space Needle has to be the biggest structure in Seattle. I mean, it's big, but you don't know how huge it actually is until you actually see it. It's like seeing The Golden Gate Bridge back in San Francisco, only you don't cross it. 

Jayden and I took an elevator to the top of the observatory deck with twenty other people. Jayden took hold of all my shopping bags and led me to a clear spot of the building.

"Take a look, Steph. Isn't this cool?" he asked.

I quickly took one peek and was automatically hooked.

"Whoa. What a view. I knew it would be like this...but...whoa."

"Takes your breath away, huh?"

"Absolutely. This is incredible. Thank you."

Jayden smiled again. "Glad you like it," he replied.

And then, he kissed me lightly on the cheek. I stared at him in complete bliss, shock and amazement as he took my hand and continued to look at the wonderful view of the city of Seattle.

* * *

Jayden called his older sister, Paige-Margaret, to take me back to the hotel. When she came, we all talked about her hotel and some improvements she could make.She's pretty cool and she actually paid attention to me. 

"Thanks for letting me know. This is my first time owning something like this, so I'm learning. I'll see what I can do in the future," she told me.

When we arrived back, I proceeded to open the door to the car, but Jayden stopped me.

"Wait, Stephanie. Is it okay if I still keep in touch with you?"

I felt flattered that Jayden still wanted to see me. After all, I was a geek and he was...a stud.

"Sure. Let me get a pen," I said.

I dug into my purse and pulled out my sparkle pen and a piece of paper. I wrote my address and phone number on it and handed the piece of paper to Jayden. He did the same with me.

"I really want to stay in touch with you. I had a good time."

"Me, too. Thanks for everything. It was so cool. Seattle's awesome."

Jayden shrugged. "No problem. Hey, can you get your uncle's autograph for me?"

I giggled. "It's no problem. See you soon," I said.

Jayden kissed my cheek again, making me blush again.

I waved as Jayden went back into the car with his sister.

After they'd left, I picked up my shopping bags and purse and walked back inside towards the hotel. As soon as I reached the room, I wasn't surprised to find D.J., Steve, and Kimmy back from sightseeing.

"Hey, guys. How was your day?" I asked.

D.J. shrugged. "It was okay. We managed to fit everything into our schedule. How about you? Did you have a good time here in the hotel?"

I knew she was teasing me, so I said haughtily, "For your information, I actually had fun. I went city-hopping with the hotel owner's younger brother. He's-"

"Like who'd want to go out with you, Blondie?" Kimmy interrupted.

"If you_ must _know, his name's Jayden, he's my age and he's in his own group. Where's Dad and Vicky?"

"They went out to eat. And don't you dare try to change the subject. Who's this Jayden dude?"

I groaned as I quickly explained all about Jayden and our entire day together in Seattle.

"He's an indie rock musician? Wow, that's sweet!" Steve replied.

D.J. and Kimmy still looked skeptical.

"I'm still not buying it, Steph. There's still no proof that you met this boy," D.J. said.

"Yeah, who would want to go out with a dork like you? A rock musician? His sister's the owner of this hotel? _Puh-leese_. Come up with a better plot line next time, okay?" Kimmy put in. They both laughed.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't care if they didn't believe me or not. As long as I remembered the great day Jayden and I spent, that was all that mattered.

As I looked outside the patio, I looked into the night sky. I began to wonder if I would ever meet anyone like Jayden again.


	5. Chapter Four: Joey

Chapter Four

Joey

_Tuesday _

_We're stuck in traffic. We were just leaving a desert (Wendy wanted to take pictures of cacti. Very weird.) When all of a sudden, an hour later, there's a huge traffic jam on the highway bumper-to-bumper. I think we're going to be a bit late arriving to the Grand Canyon. But something did happen to us, though while being stuck..._

**"This** is _not _what I expected," I muttered to no one in particular. We were stuck in traffic for the last three hours. It seemed we were stuck in the same spot forever. It certainly didn't help that it was Jesse's turn to drive, which meant road rage. He was yelling at other drivers, honking the horn every five minutes and then moving the RV and then suddenly pressing down hard on the brakes the next second.

"HONNNNNNNNNNNK!" Went the horn as we all lurched forwards in our seats.

"Hey, you! Move your hunk of junk!" Jesse yelled to some guy who couldn't even see or hear him.

"He can't hear you, Uncle Jesse," Michelle said.

"Yeah? He must be deaf then. He isn't moving."

"Gee. I wonder why," Becky muttered.

We began to move again as the traffic began to move and then it stopped. I began to feel queasy with all this sudden moving and stopping.

"Jess, can we switch? I don't think I can handle it anymore," Becky replied.

"_Please?_" Wendy, Michelle, Denise, and I begged in unison.

"Give her the wheel, Jesse. Please," I said, grasping my stomach.

Jesse sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get out of here."

Becky and Jesse switched seats.

"You know, we haven't listened to the radio lately. Maybe I should turn it on..." Becky replied, pressing the radio on button. 'Imagine' by John Lennon filled the car.

It was a good song. Until Becky started singing. She was singing off-key and very loudly.

"Beck, _please_ stop. It's-" Jesse began.

He never got to finish his sentence because we'd lurched forwards again, only this time, it felt like we'd hit something.

"Becky!" Jesse exclaimed.

Becky blushed. "Ooops."

"I heard a crash. Don't you think we should see if the person we hit is okay?" Michelle asked.

"I'm more worried about the RV. There's probably a huge dent in the bumper the size of California. What am I gonna tell the rent place?" Jesse said.

"Why don't you just go and check it out? I'll stay here with the others. Joey, go with him," Becky replied.

"Me? Why?" I asked.

"Just go."

"But I don't want to-"

"GO!" Wendy, Becky, and Jesse yelled.

With a push from Jesse, the two of us were outside in what had to be the biggest traffic jam in Arizona. Right in front of our RV, was a minivan full of people. A man was outside looking at all the damage.

There was a dent on the front bumper of the RV, but it didn't look all that bad.

"It doesn't look _that _bad," I said honestly.

Jesse glared at me. "Don't you understand? That little dent will cost a fortune to fix. It'll never-"

"But you didn't rent this RV. Danny did," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but you know him. He'll probably say-"

The man who was looking at the cars spoke up. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really have to get going. My wife made me come out here to see if there were any problems. But if everything's okay, then we'll be leaving."

"No, everything is _not _okay," Jesse replied. "That dent in the front bumper of this RV is about the same size of my wife's Aunt Ida's forehead. This is a rented RV!"

"Well, it's not really my fault about that. Maybe next time, you should watch where you're driving!"

"Well, it wasn't me who was driving. It was my wife. And you should-"

"Well, tell your pea brained wife to watch where _she's_ driving!"

That did it with Jesse. He tried to jump at the man, but luckily, I grabbed his shirt collar.

"Jess, this is our vacation. We didn't come to start fights," I hissed, trying to reason with him.

Jesse calmed down. At that moment, Becky, Michelle, Wendy, Denise, and the twins joined us. On the other side, people who appeared to be the man's family joined, too.

"Jesse? Joey? What is going on?" Becky asked.

"Yeah. We all heard a ruckus," The man's wife (at least I thought it was his wife) added.

The man looked both a little upset and sheepish. "Well, this Elvis wannabe-"

"At least I don't look like some old middle-aged coot!" Jesse retorted.

All of a sudden, there was chaos again. People in other cars were egging Jesse and the man on.

The woman who I thought was the man's wife shouted, "SHUT UP!"

The noise stopped. The woman grabbed the guy and whispered something to him. Becky grabbed Jesse and whispered something to him. They both looked reluctant, but with some persuasion from both, they walked towards each other and shook hands.

"Uh, Jesse Katsopolis," Jesse muttered to the man.

"Frank Lambert. Um...nice set of wheels you got there."

"Yeah, why couldn't you rent an RV like that one instead of trying to drive this Heap O' Junk?" One boy asked.

"That's probably the real reason the car stopped working. Frank was too bravo to admit it," A girl remarked.

The woman glared at the two. "J.T.! Dana! That's rude!" she hissed at them.

"But it's-"

"Not another word."

Frank motioned towards his family. "My wife, Carol, will probably kill me if we're not properly introduced. These are my children and stepchildren and nephew. My sons J.T. and Brendan; my daughters Alicia and Lily; my stepdaughters Dana and Karen; my stepson Mark and my nephew Cody. The Foster-Lamberts."

I chuckled in my best Popeye impression. "I'm Joey Gladstone. You might have seen me on TV. I was on Comedy Showcase. It's a nationwide show. I was-"

"Thank you, Joey. But I don't think they need to hear your lifetime achievements," Jesse cut in. "Anyway, let me introduce you to my wife, Rebecca; my niece Michelle; my brother-in-law's sister Wendy; Michelle's best friend, Denise and my twin boys Alex and Nicky. Our dog Comet is inside. And you've already met Joey."

"So? Where are all you dudes and dudedetts headin'?" The guy named Cody asked.

"We're on a road trip. We're going to Maine to see my father's cousin," Michelle informed him.

"Yeah, we _were _on our way to the Grand Canyon, but I don't think we'll get out of here anytime soon," I added with disappointment.

"Well. That's a coincidence. We were on our way there, too. We just left L.A. We can go together, maybe?" Frank replied.

"And drive what? Dad, why won't you admit that the car is a piece of junk? It, like, breaks down every twenty minutes or something," Alicia replied.

The girl named Karen scoffed. "I hate the idea of going to the Grand Canyon. It's dirty. At least when we went to Hollywood and Beverly Hills, it was full of shops and movie stars and had nice hotels... And I agree with Al. That car won't make it back to Port Washington."

"Then you can stay with us in the RV," I blurted out.

Jesse glared at me. "Don't be stupid, Joey. There isn't enough room for eighteen people plus a dog. Are you out of your mind?"

"It will only be until this traffic blows over. When it does, someone can call a tow truck and the Foster-Lamberts can drive with us until their car gets fixed or until they can rent a car," I said, proud of my idea.

"I think it's a good idea. But if we're going to be in that RV with you, we might as well go to the Grand Canyon with you. Frank knows of a campground near there. Don't you, Frank?" Carol said.

"Yep. Mather Campground. It's a really neat place. Anyway, let's get this show on the road. Cody, call a tow truck from your cell phone. Everyone else, grab as much of your luggage as you can and try and fit in there in that RV."

"Are we all gonna fit in there?" Brendan asked, looking skeptically at the RV.

"We'll manage...somehow," Becky replied.

* * *

Somehow, we did. J.T., Dana, Karen, Brendan and Al were together way in the back. Michelle, Lily, Mark, Denise, and the twins were in the middle of the RV with Comet on the floor and Jesse, Becky, Wendy, Frank, Carol, Cody, and I were by the driver's side while I was driving. The traffic had slowed down by then almost an hour and a half ago. It was almost noon when we started moving again. Cody had called a tow truck and it came to pick it up to the nearest mechanic.

It was awfully noisy in the RV, but for some reason, I was enjoying it. The noise reminded me of past vacations I used to take as a boy when my mom sent me on my way to summer camp. I loved hearing all the chatter of the kids on the bus as we were whisked away off to Camp Daleswood.

Jesse's voice broke me out of my reverie. "Joey, can you _please _watch the road? Are you trying to kill us?"

"Well, sorry. But isn't this great? We're all going to the Grand Canyon together!"

"I guess it is. I never once thought we'd share our vacation with strangers. But _nice_ strangers, nonetheless. It must be fate, I guess," Carol replied.

"Yeah. Man, that's awesome. That sounds like something I saw on TV, dude. Where this man met this woman. They fell in love and got married..." Cody trailed off.

"Anyway, I'm sorry about what happened to us earlier, Mr. Katsopolis. I was-" Frank began.

"First of all, call me Jesse. Secondly, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Becky. No apologizing. You're alright, I guess. So we'll just leave at that."

Frank nodded. Then he turned to Carol and said, "I wish I could talk to you like that," he muttered.

From the back somewhere, Lily shouted, "WE'RE HERE!"

"The Grand Canyon? Finally," J.T. and Dana both said.

Several minutes later, we pulled up to the Mather Campground. When we got signed in, we quickly found a place to set the RV. I parked it gently and shut it off.

"Wow. It's a beauty. Just like I pictured it," I remarked.

The kids came out of the RV one at a time.

"This is cool! Let's hit the white-water rapids!" J.T. exclaimed.

"Me, too!" Brendan exclaimed.

"Me, three!" Al replied.

"I wanna ride the donkeys!" Michelle, Denise, and Lily chorused.

"I want to see the view and just look around," Dana said.

"I want to check out the rock and dirt samples for my personal science project," Mark said.

Karen was reading a map. "This map says there's a little town near here. Maybe I'll find some cuties..."

"Can we go with Michelle, Denise, and the other girl, Mommy?" Nicky and Alex begged Becky.

"Sure. Who else wants to come?" Becky asked.

"I will," Wendy replied.

"I guess I will, too. I need something to do," Carol replied.

"I'll just walk around and look. There's so many cool things here," Cody said.

"Okay, since everyone wants to split up, let's be back here in three hours, alright? Camp will be set up soon, okay?" Frank replied.

"Does everyone know where they're going?" Carol asked.

"We can use Karen's map, Carol. Let's go!" J.T. yelled.

When everyone had split up, I split up away from everyone else to explore the scenery. And when I saw it, I was enthralled. It was amazing. I'd never seen anything like it. I sat on an old, flat rock and stared at the view. I must have been there for hours because then Jesse found me.

"There you are. What've you been doing?" he asked.

"Jess, isn't this the best?" I asked, indicating the view in front of us.

"Yeah, I guess. If you like rocks and all that stuff. Now, let's go. Camp's all set up and dinner's ready."

As Jesse and I left, I took one last look at the canyon and then quickly turned around to catch up with Jesse.

* * *

It was really amazing, those two days with the Foster-Lamberts. I never knew how much fun we could have, but we did. Our last day was spent hiking the Grand Canyon. Today, We were all going our separate ways. Their old car was in the shop, so Frank was driving a rented one reluctantly. We, of course, had to finish the rest of the trip.

The Foster-Lamberts were on their way back to Wisconsin.

"Bye! See you soon!" We yelled to them as they were leaving.

"We'll keep in touch. It's been a pleasure," Carol said.

"Hey, Michelle. I want to meet that older sister you've told me about!" J.T. replied.

"Sorry! D.J. already has a boyfriend! Bye!" Michelle said.

We continued waving as the family finally drove away.

"What a family," I said.

"Yeah. They were nice. A little rambunctious and loud, but they are a loving family deep down," Wendy remarked.

"We can be the same way," Jesse put in.

Becky sighed. "Well, we should be leaving, too," she replied.

"Yeah. Let's hit it. More driving ahead of us," Jesse added.

"We'll be on our way to our next stop before we know it," Wendy said.

"Four Corners! Woohoo!" Michelle cheered.

We packed up and hit the road again.

On the highway, I looked back at the marvelous Grand Canyon. Sitting back in my seat, I flipped back my Archie comic. _What a two days it's been_, I thought.


	6. Chapter Five: Steve

Chapter Five

Steve

_Friday_

_Our last couple of days was spent in Idaho and Montana. Right now, we're close to Yellowstone National Park, so Mr. Tanner suggested camping for awhile before we continue the rest of the long drive to South Dakota to Mount Rushmore. I heard you try mountain climbing, which should be a blast. I don't really know what's in store for us at Yellowstone, but we'll see..._

"**Who** wants to play License & Hit?" Kimmy asked.

D.J. looked up from her _YM_ magazine. "How do you play?" she asked.

"It's easy. We all look out a window, right, to look at license plates. When I call out a state that's on a plate, you have to shout 'Hit!' and then, I get to punch you!"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Can't we just _hit_ you?" she asked, irritated.

D.J. shook her head. "I don't think so, Kimmy," she replied.

Kimmy shrugged. "Oh, well. That's the game my family and I played on our vacation trips."

"Oh, what fun _that_ must have been," Stephanie remarked sarcastically.

"Danny, what are we going to do today?" Vicky asked, giving Kimmy a weird look.

Mr. Tanner shrugged. "Whatever you guys want to do. I mean, it'll be awhile before we reach South Dakota, so..."

"What's there to do in Montana? There's nothing but mountains and trees," Stephanie said.

D.J. spoke up. "I was looking at a pamphlet at that general store we stopped at. It said Yellowstone National Park is right near Montana. In fact, one of the entrances is in Montana, but the park is actually in Wyoming. We can go there."

"That's awesome! You know, they have places somewhere where you can mountain climb. Grand Teton National Park, that is. I've been to Yellowstone before. It's awesome," I said excitedly.

Vicky nodded in agreement. "Yeah, camping sounds like fun. Did we pack tents?"

"I only packed some because D.J. said. I didn't think we'd need them," I replied.

"Well, aren't you glad you listened to me?" D.J. asked, putting her hand on my knee.

I took a hold of her hand. "I'd always listen to you. You're so smart," I said, looking deeply into her eyes.

D.J. smiled at me. "Awww. You're the greatest," she replied.

"No. You are," I replied back.

"No. You are."

"You ar-"

"Don't make me gag, please. I've heard enough," Stephanie said, covering her ears. She turned to Mr. Tanner. "So, we're going to Yellowstone, Dad?"

"I guess. I was looking at this map here. Like I said, Wyoming is kinda close to South Dakota, so we can still make it to Mount Rushmore."

"That's sooooo boring! Who wants to see a bunch of heads of dead guys?"

"It beats the other state we were in. The potato state," Kimmy said.

"That was Idaho. And you actually agree with Dad? You want to see Mount Rushmore?" Stephanie asked her, her eyes wide incredulously.

"Well, yeah. That's where the Gold Rush is, right? The more gold, the bigger the rush!"

We all stared at Kimmy incredulously.

Stephanie shook her head. "Forget I even asked," she said.

* * *

"We made it! We're in Wyoming!" D.J.'s voice rang out about four or five hours later.

"Thank goodness. Man, I'm so cramped," Stephanie replied. "Are we there yet?"

"We should be. One of the entrances is in Montana, so we-" Mr. Tanner said, but I interrupted him.

"Yeah, we're here. I can see it. Right there, is a park ranger by one of the stations," I said, pointing.

I was right. More cars were right behind us, waiting to get into the park. A park ranger with a clipboard stopped us at the entrance.

"How many?" he asked Mr. Tanner.

"Six."

"Thank you very much. Here's some paper with the rules. Enjoy your stay at Yellowstone, sir."

"Oh, we will, handsome!" Kimmy chirped, staring at the park ranger with a lustful look.

The park ranger gave Mr. Tanner a look.

"Sorry. _Very _high hormones," Mr. Tanner replied, chuckling nervously a little.

The park ranger didn't laugh. "Keep moving please, sir. There are other people waiting," he said.

We drove further on, glaring at Kimmy.

"What? He had a hot bod! I couldn't help myself!" she exclaimed.

"From now on, Kimmy, for the remainder of this trip, keep your hormones in check or Dad will throw you out...Literally," D.J. warned her.

"Not even literally," Stephanie added.

Vicky sighed. "You know, I think camping was a good idea. Don't you all think so?"

Mr. Tanner nodded. "Well... Yellowstone is a beautiful place. Except for the bears."

"They have bears here?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah. They do. Grizzly bears and I think they have brown bears, too," I said. "They're the most common around here."

"Think we'll see any?" Kimmy asked.

"I hope not. They're scary," D.J. said. She grabbed my hand and I squeezed it.

"Well, if we just follow the rules here and do what we're supposed to do, no bear will harm us," Mr. Tanner replied, looking at all of us.

"I'm in agreement, Dad," Stephanie said.

"I won't even argue with you on that one, Mr. T," Kimmy added.

The rest of us nodded our agreement.

* * *

We continued our drive down the road. About half an hour later, we'd set up camp. It was about 7:45 at night and was extremely dark except for the campfire Vicky and Mr. Tanner had set up.

Stephanie, D.J., Kimmy, and I decided to take a quick hike not too far from camp. So we grabbed our flashlights and some food and went on our way.

"What do you think Vicky packed in here, anyway? This stuff weighs a ton," Stephanie said, readjusting her backpack strap.

"Steph, let's just keep going. Remember what your dad said," I reminded her.

"Yeah, you don't want to get EATEN by a big, black BEAR!" Kimmy yelled from behind, grabbing Stephanie's shoulders.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Stephanie screamed.

"Shut up, Steph! Do you want the whole world to hear you?" D.J. asked.

"Sorry, but-"

"Let's just keep moving," D.J. said.

Kimmy and I followed, but Steph kept walking along at a snail's pace.

"Come on, Steph," D.J. replied.

Pretty soon, Stephanie was out of sight. D.J groaned in exasperation.

"I swear, I don't know why she even came if-"

We heard a yell from behind. A minute later, Stephanie came crashing through the bushes. "BEAR!" she shrieked. She nearly crashed into me. I lost my balance and we both fell into a giant puddle of mud.

"What-" I asked, angry about all the mud all over me.

"What's going on?" Kimmy asked.

Stephanie's face was streaked with tears. "I saw a b-b-bear! A big, huge bear with big teeth and-and claws. It roared at m-m-me," she sobbed.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I w-w-w-wouldn't lie! I-I-s-saw it!" she replied, sobbing again. D.J. went to comfort her sister.

"Not-not only that, but-but it's co-coming this wa-way!" she added in a muffled voice, her head almost hidden behind D.J.'s shoulder. Kimmy and I had to lean closer to hear her.

"What? We gotta do something!" Kimmy said, getting more serious and hysterical.

I began to feel the wheels turning in my brain. "Hmmm...I'm guessing the bear probably smelled the food Steph has in that bag. I'm going to climb up in that tree over there and tie the food up as high as I can climb so the bear can't reach it," I said thoughtfully.

"What about the rest of us? I don't wanna be bear chow!" Kimmy exclaimed.

"Relax. We're all going to climb together. But first, I need the food and you, Kimmy."

"Why me?" Kimmy asked (I noticed Stephanie's mood change quickly when I asked Kimmy to climb the tree.).

"I hate to say this, but if you _take off_ your shoes, then chances are, the bear won't get us. So, c'mon!"

Kimmy nodded and then proceeded to climb with me. We climbed up higher and higher. I quickly tied up the food and waited for D.J. and Stephanie.

Five to ten minutes later, the bear came mingling around. It looked up and saw the food swinging. It had its nose up in the air.

I looked at D.J. and Steph, who looked at me in return. I gave the signal to hold their noses when Kimmy took off her shoes.

"It likes the smell of the food. Now, Kimmy! Go!" I shouted.

Kimmy kicked off her shoes. And sure enough, it worked! The nasty, foul odor of Kimmy's feet chased the bear away. The bear quickly moseyed away.

"WOOOOOO!" Stephanie cheered, still holding her nose.

"Now, that's bear repellant," I remarked.

We climbed out of the tree. D.J. kissed me. "For saving our lives," she explained to me.

When we had climbed out of the tree, I dug out the sandwiches, snacks, and drinks.

"Who wants a bologna and cheese sandwich?" I asked.

* * *

That's the end of our Yellowstone adventure. There's not much to tell except that we visited Old Faithful and the Grand Tetons and the hot springs.

Camping was a lot of fun. Except for the guitar that Mr. Tanner brought along and had us singing corny camp songs. But, other than that, I had a great time and I'd never forget it.


	7. Chapter Six: Nicky

Chapter Six

Nicky

_Friday_

_Hi, D.J.! We're at the Four Corners Monument! We've seen deserts and all other kinds of cool stuff while on our way to FC. We are having fun. We hope you, Steffie, Uncle Danny and the rest are having just as much fun as we are! We're having a blast! Love, Nicky_

_**As dictated by Rebecca Katsopolis (Hey, D.J.!)**_

**"I** know an old lady who swallowed a fly", Michelle sang. "I don't know why she swallowed the fly..."

"How does the rest of that song go again?" Denise asked.

Michelle shrugged. "I don't know. Joey's going to be teaching me the rest later. Anyway, I just can't _wait_ until we get to Four Corners."

Four Corners. That was what I'd heard Michelle talking about all the time. Four Corners this or Four Corners that. I wanted to know what it was.

"What's Four Corners?" I asked.

"It's the only place in the whole America where four states touch. Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. You can stand in four of them at the same time at once."

"How?" Alex asked.

"Well, most people just put one hand inside one state, the other hand in another state and the same with the feet. But I want to do it a different way."

"Which way?" Denise asked.

"Maybe I could sit down and try to stretch my hands and feet in each state instead of squatting."

"You could try hopping. That's even more fun," Denise suggested.

"Cool! C'mon, let's go talk to Joey for a second. I want to ask him something."

The girls left.

Alex and I entertained ourselves by looking out the window.

"Look at that funny little green thing with the arms on it!" I exclaimed.

"It has hair on it!" Alex added.

We laughed.

We kept ourselves busy by staring out the window all day. A long time later, Mommy popped her head in.

"Hey, boys! Whatcha doing in here?" she asked.

"Looking out the window. We saw a lot of stuff," I told her.

Mommy scooped us up and kissed us. "Really? Like what?" she asked.

"We saw a green thing with arms in the dirt!" I said.

"With hair!" Alex added.

I could tell Mommy was trying hard not to laugh. "Oh, _really_? Hmmm..." she said. "Well, we've just about reached Four Corners already. I'm gonna get you changed and we're gonna have fun!"

"YEAAAAAAAH!" Alex and I shrieked.

"That's the spirit! C'mon!"

Mommy helped us get dressed and then we joined the others outside.

Daddy, Aunt Wendy, Denise, Joey, and Michelle waved to us.

"Hey, you guys! Look! I'm in Utah; Denise is in Arizona, Michelle's in New Mexico, and Jesse's in Colorado!" Joey replied, laughing.

Mommy laughed, too. "Glad to see you all are having fun. Look what I can do. Step back," she said, handing us to Daddy.

When everyone had cleared away, Mommy went down in the very middle; put her left hand in Utah, her right in Colorado, her left foot in Arizona and her right foot in New Mexico. Then she carefully bent down backwards.

"How'd you learn that?" Daddy asked, amazed.

Mommy stood up, smiling. "I was a cheerleader back in high school and they had us doing stretches. It's pretty cool."

"I wanna go!" I shouted.

"Me, too!" Alex chimed in.

Michelle grinned. "I told you guys this was gonna be really cool," she said.

"Let the boys try now," Mommy said.

We cheered. Then I watched as Alex put all his hands and feet in each state. Then I did it. Mommy took pictures of us.

Afterwards, it wasn't as much fun anymore, so we left.

Daddy was driving while having Mommy look at a map.

"Hmmm...Texas is our next stop. We can rest for awhile in New Mexico for the night and then continue. Whaddya say? Anyone want to do that?" Daddy asked.

"Yea!" We all replied.

"What's Texas?" Alex asked.

"Really huge state. Teddy used to live there," Michelle told him.

"Oh."

We continued the rest of driving. I went into Mommy's lap and looked out the window again. Without even realizing it, I fell asleep.


	8. Chapter Seven: Vicky

AN: Alas, a new chapter! Finally!I apologize for not updating before. I had severe writers' block. Can you blame me? But I know that's no excuse. I should have before, right? Anyway, here's my newest installment into the story! Review if you're not angry with me!

Chapter Seven

Vicky

_Sunday _

_Everyone's in a bad mood today. Wait. Scratch that. Danny's in a bad mood. We were supposed to be going to Mount Rushmore, but it's raining extremely hard to even think about going outside. And on top of that, we're lost! Danny left to find help while the rest of us stay in the RV, stranded in the middle of nowhere on a road in the rain. Could it possibly get any worse? _

**"S**outh Dakota bites!" Kimmy proclaimed, throwing herself down on one of the seats.

"Dad's going to get help. We'll get out of here," D.J told her reassuringly.

"Right. Whatever. Hello! This is a prairie. There isn't even a house or anything around here for miles. Where can Stringbean go to get help? We're miles from nowhere."

"Chill out, okay? Instead of biting each other's heads off, let's try to do something to pass the time," Steve replied.

"Like what? Sit, drink tea, and share our most troublesome feelings?" Stephanie asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know. Anything."

I perked up. Steve actually had a great idea.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea. We can do that," I replied.

"But what?" Kimmy asked, rolling her eyes.

Stephanie took out a deck of cards. "Gia taught me how to play poker. Who wants to play poker?" she asked.

D.J. tossed her book aside. "I guess I'll play. Anyone else want to join us?"

Steve and Kimmy eventually joined the game. I took out my half-finished knitted scarf. It was something I'd been working on off and on whenever I had time. I've been using different colors of yarn. So far, it's green, indigo, red, white, pink, black, and gold. Now, I'm adding purple to the mix of colors.

After ten minutes, Stephanie threw down her cards and folded her arms together. She exhaled deeply and groaned.

"What's your problem?" D.J. asked.

Stephanie scowled. "Dad's been gone for nearly an hour. I mean, what-"

She was cut off when suddenly, we all heard a howl. It was so loud, I thought the sky would split apart. We all became eerily quiet.

"Coyotes?" Kimmy asked unsurely.

"Probably," I said. "But I don't think they'd be out in the rain. Especially a storm like this."

"Well, if they are out there, they can't get us from in here. Can they?" D.J. asked.

Steve shook his head. "Nah. Don't worry, Deej. They won't get us. I'm here for you."

"Aw, Steve…"

Stephanie made a face, but didn't say a word.

Another howl. And this time, it was much louder. It didn't sound like a coyote's howl at all. In fact, it sounded more like a-

"GHOST! It's a ghost!" Stephanie shrieked.

"Don't be ridiculous," I scoffed.

"Yeah, Steph. Still afraid of things that go bump in the night?" D.J. teased.

"Shut up!" Stephanie retorted.

"Alright, alright. That's enough," I demanded sternly. "D.J., stop teasing your sister. And Stephanie, stop that nonsense about ghosts. Everybody, just be quiet."

Stephanie got up quickly. "I gotta go to the bathroom. Be right back!"

After she'd gone, everyone else resumed to whatever they were doing.

D.J. shook her head and laughed. "What a scaredy-cat," she mused.

Steve and Kimmy joined in D.J.'s laughter. I gave each of them a stern look.

The kids continued their game. I kept knitting. That howling noise was still resounding over the RV. I also noticed that twenty minutes had gone by and Stephanie still hadn't returned from the bathroom.

Wh" ere did Stephanie go?" I asked.

Steve looked up from his deck of cards. " She said she was going to the bathroom, right?" he asked, distracted.

"Yes. And that was twenty minutes ago. Honestly, am I the only one who pays attention to the time?" I asked.

"Apparently so," Kimmy chirped.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, we have to find her," I said.

Kimmy looked out the window. "I don't know, Ms. L. I don't think I wanna go out there. Look at the rain and I cannot go out wearing my new purple velvet shoes!"

Whatever the reason why Kimmy bought purple velvet shoes, we chose not to discuss. Steve volunteered to watch the RV while D.J. and I grabbed ponchos and flashlights.

Once outside, it was pouring. And I mean _pouring_. We ran up and down the road, the rain running down harder and harder. But there was no sign of Stephanie anywhere. I started to get panicky.

After nearly an hour of searching, we gave up and trudged back to the RV.

" Did you fi-" Steve was about to ask. His face fell when he didn't see Steph.

"You guys haven't seen her either?" D.J. asked, throwing herself into a chair.

"No."

We sighed. "Man, Dad's gonna kill us when he gets back," D.J. moaned. "But now I'm getting really worried about Steph. Where could she be?"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here," a familiar voice said.

We jumped when we saw Stephanie in her old nightshirt and pajama bottoms.

"WHERE WERE YOU?" I asked shrilly.

"I was in the bathroom, sitting in the bathtub. I was looking out the window and I just fell asleep in there. Were you guys looking for me or something?"

D.J. looked ready to clobber Stephanie.

"What? "Stephanie asked, looking confused.

"Stephanie, you had us all worried! Don't do that again!" I exclaimed.

Stephanie nodded. "It _does _flatter me that you guys cared enough about me to look for me…maybe I should get lost again…"

"You might not be lucky next time," D.J. groused, but a second later, she stuck out her tongue and laughed. Stephanie laughed, too. The girls joined in for a hug.

"Where's Dad? He hasn't shown up yet?" Stephanie asked.

"Not that we know of," Steve replied, shaking his head.

No sooner than that was said, right in front of the RV window, a shining set of headlights came bursting through.

"YES! He did it!" Stephanie yelled, pumping her fist into the air. She ran outside, coatless and barefoot.

"Steph, come back! You don't know if that's Dad or not!" D.J. yelled, grabbing her poncho and running in pursuit of Stephanie.

Ten seconds later, the rest of heard D.J. yell in relief and happiness, "Dad!"

Danny arrived back, safe and sound. But he was wet, muddy, and disgruntled. So not the Danny I knew.

"Honey? What happened to you?" I asked, trying to be tactful.

"Whoa, did you mingle with the pigs on a farm?" Kimmy cracked.

Danny glared at Kimmy, but ignored her. "Leaving this RV was a mistake," he said grumpily."First, I stood outside in the pouring rain for what seemed like eternity just to get a ride to the nearest gas station. Some old couple felt sorry for me and offered to give me a ride there, which happened to be fifty miles away from the next biggest town. We got there all right, but coming back, the couple's car got stuck in the mud and it took me and three of the tow truck workers to push it out. That explains why I'm all muddy and dirty. The tow truck is going to take the RV to the nearest shop to get it fixed."

"Are you okay, dear?" I asked, rubbing his arm, despite the mud.

"Sure. I'm just tired, wet, hungry, smelly, and dirty. I'm going to take a shower soon and get myself out of these smelly clothes. We're going to have to stay at a motel tonight. The old couple offered to give us a ride, but since there's too many of us, the tow truck will drive the other half to the motel."

We got to taking a few items with us from the RV. Then we all boarded the waiting cars. Riding with Danny and Stephanie in the tow truck, Steph and I never told him what happened while waiting for him in that RV. We didn't want him to, as Stephanie put it, to "Freak out and give us a lecture or a 'when-I-your-age' type of story or something."

"Dad?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you still planning that stop to Mount Rushmore?"

Danny grinned. "As a matter of fact, I think so. Thanks for reminding me, sweetheart. I'd forgotten."

Stephanie groaned inwardly. "I think I spoke too soon," she whispered to me.

All I could do was laugh.


	9. Chapter Eight: Denise

Chapter Eight

Denise

_Monday_

_Today's the start of Week Two of our trip. On Saturday, we'll be in Maine! Okay...back to what happening with us. We're in Texas, somewhere near Houston. We're going to a rodeo, but we got lost a few times (Texas is a really huge state, you know!), stopped because Alex got carsick, ate dinner at a nearby steakhouse, stopped again because Joey got carsick and continued going on our way. _

_On the way, we took an unexpected stop..._

_PS: I'm so bored. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE RODEO! WOOHOO! (I'm hyper today!)_

**T**exas. What a cool state. It's the kind of state where you can find adventure, cowboys, horses, bulls and most importanly: Rodeos! Everyone seemed to be psyched about the rodeo. And it was the perfect time to go see one. The weather was great; not too hot and the mood was right.

Remember when Michelle couldn't stop talking about Four Corners? Well, I was feeling the same way about the rodeo. I couldn't stop talking about them. I talked about them so much, I think everyone was getting annoyed with me, including Michelle.

We were on the highway, moving along. Joey was reading a book, Nicky and Alex were taking a nap, Jesse was driving the RV, Wendy was doing some doodling, Michelle and I were playing Chinese Checkers and Becky was flipping through some stuff of hers.

Michelle had beaten me at Chinese Checkers at least fifteen times and I was getting tired of it. I groaned and pushed the game aside. "I don't wanna play anymore," I replied.

"You're only saying that because you're losing!" Michelle said.

"No. This game is boring," I said.

"Yeah...I guess you're right," she agreed. "Hey, what town are we in?" she asked.

"Myrtle," Becky replied matter-of-factly.

"How'd you know that?" Jesse asked.

"I have an atlas, you know. Plus, I've been paying attention to every town we've passed since we left."

"Okay...what was the town we were in before we came here?" Jesse challenged.

"Meyerland."

"They make bologna there?"

Becky rolled her eyes. "On a serious note, honey. I was actually going through my address book. Did you know I actually have some old friends that live here in Texas? It just so happens they live here in Myrtle. I have the address and everything."

"Old friends, huh? How old?" Jesse asked.

"My old friend from Nebraska, Charlotte Miller, lives here in Texas. We were best friends in high school but we lost touch. Another girlfriend of mine gave me her address, but I never got around to visiting or calling her. Since we're here, we might as well see how's she's doing. Jess, I'll give you the directions. Let's go!"

"But what about the rodeo?" I asked, my heart sinking.

"Don't worry, Denise. We'll still be able to go. We'll only stay for an hour," Becky promised.

I tried to smile, but I couldn't. I wasn't sure if I believed her. An hour sounded like a century to a kid.

We exited off the highway and made our way down to the town of Myrtle, Texas.

"What's that smell?" Michelle asked, pinching her nose.

"That's the smell of black gold, Texas tea, little lady," Joey replied, putting on a faux Texan accent.

"_Huh?_"

"Oil," Joey said. "Don'tcha watch 'The Beverly Hillbillies'?"

"I think watching that idiot box all day has turned _you_ into an idiot," Jesse wisecracked.

Joey made a face. "Ha, ha. Funny," he said dryly.

"Okay...Charlotte lives on 19 Junction Road..." Becky muttered. "Jess, I see it! Take the next left!"

When we got to the road, we started looking for the house. Junction Road was a small street with houses all around them. There were some houses that had small farms around them. I saw chickens clucking around and cows eating grass.

"I wish we had cows back in San Francisco," Michelle replied.

"Yeah," I said nonchalently.

"Okay! I see the house! Stop!" Becky said, practically yelling.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, Beck," Jesse said.

We pulled up to the front house, which happened to be a blue and white house with a huge meadow. There were cows all around.

"Ugh. This is totally _not_ where I wanna be," Jesse remarked.

"Deal with it. We're here," Becky said.

We stepped out of the RV and began to walk towards the front door.

When we were standing on the front porch, Becky began to look nervous and babble mile a minute.

"How do I look? How is Charlotte going to react when she sees me? I wonder what she looks like now? I wonder if she remembers me? Is she-"

"Beck, relax. It'll be okay," Wendy reassured her, squeezing her hand.

"Okay. I guess you're right. Here's goes nothing," Becky replied as she stuck her thumb out to ring the doorbell.

"DING DONG!" Went the bell.

A young boy about me and Michelle's age answered it. He looked a little surprised to see us all standing there.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Uh...I'm Rebecca Katsopolis...I'm looking for Charlotte Miller. I'm an old friend of hers and-"

"Becca! That you?" A women's voice asked.A dark-haired, plump-faced woman peered behind the boy.

"OMIGOD! CHARLOTTE!" Becky squealed.

The two girls shrieked and gave each other hugs.

"My, my! I never thought...Becca, you look so pretty! My, my!" Charlotte said, crying into Becky's shoulder.

The two girls hugged for what seemed like forever. _That's fifteen minutes left_, I thought.

"Becca, come on in. Oh, is this your family? Bring 'em all in! Oh, my!"

Becky wiped the tears away. "Charlotte, let me introduce you to everyone. This is my husband, Jesse Katsopolis, my twin sons Nicholas and Alexander, my niece Michelle, my sister-in-law Wendy, our long-time friend Joey and my niece's best friend Denise."

Charlotte shook hands with everyone. "How are you? Jeesum, Becca! You married a hunk!" She replied, smiling at Jesse.

Jesse smiled back. "Well, thanks for your flattering comments. I am quite a catch, am I?"

"I'll say. Nice to meet you, Jesse. You have a cute couple of twins there. And your niece and her friend are adorable."

"Thank you very much," Michelle replied.

"Yes. Thank you," I said.

"Well, Becca, why don't you all sit down in the parlor? We werejust having a BBQ for dinner, but I guess we can fit in a few more. This is my son, Wade. He's nine years old. I guess he can play with the children. I have two daughters and another son. Marissa Lynn, Laurelyn and Hunter are all upstairs, but they'll be down soon. Why don't you make yourselves at home?"

Charlotte showed us to the parlor and motioned for us to sit down. The chairs felt comfortable as we sat down.

"Would you like something to eat? Drink? I have some sweet tea and some fruit," Charlotte offered.

"Um..." I said.

"No thanks. We don't want to deplete you of any food you might have," Joey replied.

"Nonsense. My husband's making ribs, burgers, hot dogs, grilled corn, barbecued chicken and chicken-fried steak. A Texan favorite."

I could see everyone's mouth practically watering. My mouth was watering, too.

"Well...okay. I guess we can eat just a _little _something," Joey replied.

"Great! Y'all can just sit here with me and talk. Especially you, Becca. How comeyou haven't chatted it up with me, huh?"

Becky blushed. "Well..." And then she began to talk.

While the grown-ups were talking, Wade, Michelle and I looked at each other. Wade was clutching his mother's hand.

Charlotte smiled at her son. "Wade, you wanna go play with the company? Bring the others down here and you can play."

Wade nodded. "Okay," he said.

He got up and went upstairs. A minute later, he arrived with the rest of his siblings. They all looked like their mother; the same dark hair, the plump faces.

"Everyone, these are my children. Hunter's fourteen, Laurelyn's eleven, Marissa Lynn's ten and little Wade here is nine, like I said before. Kids, this is Becca Katsopolis, my old friend from high school. She's with her family on a trip. Why don't you show your young company around, okay?"

The kids agreed. Hunter grimaced. "Mama, do I gotta? I'm fourteen-too young to be around little kids. Besides, I have to call Taylor Chambers. She'll call any minute."

"Who's Taylor Chambers?" Michelle asked.

"His _girlfriend_!" Marissa Lynn shrieked, giggling.

"_MOM!_" Hunter yelled.

Charlotte pointed towards the door. "Hunter Markus Miller, go outside with your company, this minute! I'm warning you, young man!" She told him sternly.

Hunter groaned. "Alright. C'mon," he said.

As we walked outside, the girl named Marissa Lynn walked next to us. "Hi. I'm Marissa Lynn Christina Miller. What's your name?" She asked Michelle and I.

"I'm Michelle Elizabeth Tanner. How old are you?"

"I'm ten. What about you?"

"I'm nine, but I'll be ten next year."

"What about you? What's your name?" Marissa Lynn asked me.

"I'm Denise Camille Frasier. I'm nine and a half."

"Where y'all from?"

"We're from San Francisco."

Marissa Lynn looked wide-eyed. "Wow. I've heard of San Francisco. That's a big place, isn't it?"

"Yep. It has trolley cars and parks and zoos and..." Michelle went on. Marissa Lynn listened to every word.

Meanwhile, Laurelyn was already taking a liking to Nicky and Alex. She had each twin by the hand. Wade was by his big brother, who was leading us to who knew where.

"Uh...Where are we going?" I asked.

"I'm taking ya'll to a very special place. It's in the meadow."

I was wondering what it could possibly be.

Hunter lead us further and further away from the blue house. Finally, we stopped in front of a rickety old barn.

"This is it?" Michelle asked.

Laurelyn laughed. "Look inside," she said.

Michelle and I looked at each other. What were we getting ourselves into?

Marissa Lynn opened the door. Inside, were...

"HORSIES!" Nicky and Alex both yelled.

"Oh, wow! Totally cool!" Michelle replied.

"You got that right! Oh, cool!" I exclaimed.

"Wanna ride one of 'em?" Hunter asked.

Did we? _Did we_?

"Yeah!" We all exclaimed.

Hunter lead us into the barn and introduced to all the horses.

"We have three horses in all. These are my dad's, purebred.. The white one is called Angel; the black and white spotted one is called Glory and the smallblack one is called Striking Beauty."

"They're beautiful," Michelle replied, reaching her hand out to touch one of them. "Can I?" She asked.

"Sure, sure," Hunter replied.

Michelle stroked Angel while I petted Striking Beauty.

"Pretty horses," I said.

"You wanted to ride 'em, didn't you? Here you go," Hunter replied. He picked up the saddles and put them on the horses. Then he picked up me and put me on Striking Beauty. Then he put Michelle on Angel. Laurelyn, Marissa Lynn and Wade climbed on Glory. (Nicky and Alex were too chicken.)

With Hunter's help and supervision, we all rode the horses around the meadow.

"YEEHAW!" Michelle yelled. I joined in.

"This has to be more fun than a rodeo!" I replied.

Michelle agreed with me. We all rode back to the blue house. The grown-ups were sitting outside on the patio, talking and laughing.

"Hey, look at us! Joey! Aunt Becky! Aunt Wendy! Uncle Jesse! Look!" Michelle yelled, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait! Let me get a picture!" Jesse replied, whipping out his camera. He quickly snapped the picture. "You look great, munchkin!"

"Alright, you guys! Yeehaw!" Joey replied.

We slowed down and mounted the horses. Then after Hunter brought them back to the barn, we all sat on the patio.

"Hope ya'll are hungry. We've got plenty," Charlotte's husband, Harold, replied.

"I sure am," Joey replied.

Harold put the platter of ribs on the table along with the chicken."Eat up!"

"Yum-mers!" Joey replied, grabbing some ribs with the serving fork.

"Hamburgers and hot dogs are comin'!" Charlotte replied.

"Finally!" I whispered to Michelle, who giggled.

When everyone had their fill, we all began talking and eating...and eating some more. It wasn't until dark that it was time to go. Charlotte and her family escorted us to our RV.

"Becca. you better stay in touch with me. I still can't believe it's you, after all those years! You look so grown up!" Charlotte replied.

"We had a lot of fun today, Char. You're always gonna be my best friend. I hope our family and yours stay in touch. Your kids are adorable."

"Oh, we will. I'm gonna miss you, Becca! Take care, you hear?"

The two hugged and began crying again.

"When you get back to San Francisco, call me, okay?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you, too."

We finally left. Michelle, Nicky, Alex and I waved to the Miller kids.

"We had a good time! Bye, Hunter! Bye, Wade! Bye, Marissa Lynn! Bye, Laurelyn!" Michelle and I yelled.

"Bye-bye," Alex and Nicky replied, waving.

"We'll come to San Fran sometime!" Hunter replied.

We continued waving as the RV finally left the blue house.

"Ah, man. I'm stuffed," Joey remarked.

"Me, too. So...where to next? Where's our next destination?" Jesse asked.

"The rodeo," Becky reminded him.

"I changed my mind," I replied.

"Huh?" Becky asked.

"I don't want to go to the rodeo. I already rode a horse and I saw some bulls and cows on the way here. I've done enough," I replied.

Becky looked a little surprised. "Well, okay...I'm still sorry that you had to miss your rodeo, Denise. But..."

"But seeing your old friend was more important. I understand."

Becky smiled at me. "Thanks, Denise. Michelle, you don't know how lucky you are to have a friend like Denise. She's very understanding and smart for her age."

"And that's why I like her," Michelle replied, throwing me into a hug. I was smiling so brightly, I didn't even notice when Jesse stopped the RV to snap another picture of Michelle and me.


	10. Chapter Nine: Kimmy

Chapter Nine

Kimmy

_Tuesday_

_We're driving around the great state of Minnesota (Finally!) on our way to see my great-grandmother who lives in Bloomington. I'm am completely bored out of my mind. Mr. T is actually trying to start some kind of sing-along called "Sweet Betsy From Pike" or something like that. I mean, who wants to hear about some chick who climbed a mountain with her boyfriend and a bunch of animals. Really, Mr. T? You know the most dorkiest songs ever written by man. D.J, no offense to your dad. I know you love him, but come on..._

_**Sorry you're so bored, Kimmy. I love my dad, but he can be annoying...like right now...**_

_Well...that's okay. I'm not going to let your dad's attempt at singing ruin my day. I'm seeing my great-grammy!_

_**Speaking of that, Kimmy. What's your great-grandmother like?**_

_You'll see, D.J. You'll see..._

**"D**id you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike, who crossed the high mountain with her lover Ike! With two yoke of cattle and an old yeller dog. A tall shanghai rooster and one spotted hog..." Mr. T continued singing. He'd been singing for the same lyrics for fifteen minutes, but it seemed like eternity. It was a pure nightmare. He was ruining my vacation.

"AGH! I can't take it anymore! Please stop singing or I'll shoot myself!" I shouted.

Stephanie looked amused. "Thank you!" she replied. I gave her an ugly look.

Mr. T smiled. "Am I annoying you, Kimmy?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Good. Then I'll keep singing then," he replied.

"Good one, Dad," Stephanie replied.

"Well, isn't he annoying you, too?" I asked.

Stephanie grinned. "Too bad for you, Kimmy. You haven't been on enough of the family's car trips. Whenever Dad starts singing, D.J, Vicky and I just whip out the ol' earplugs. I noticed you don't have any. Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"

Stephanie smirked. "And don't even think of stealing mine," she added, sticking the earplugs back into her ears and picking up her copy of _Tiger Beat _magazine.

I looked at D.J. She had a pair of earplugs along with Vicky. Steve was listening to his CD player with the volume turned up.

_Someone save me!_ I thought. I quickly covered my ears with my hands, trying to drown out the noise of Stringbean. I remember my family's car trips. We always had singalongs, but none as droning and annoying and monotous at the same time. Mr T. just wouldn't shut up.

I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. The door drowned some of the noise, but that suited me just fine. I put the toilet lid down over the bowl and sat on it, moaning to myself. _Why did I ever agree to go on this trip?_ I thought.

I went for a lot of reasons. One, 'cause I love D.J. Two, to annoy Stringbean and Miss Squirt. And three, my great-grandma.

Just thinking about my great-grandma, it dawned on me that we were close to Bloomington. I had to call her!

I dug into my pocket and fished out my cell phone. I quickly dialed the number and waited for her to pick up.

Ten rings later, she finally picked up. "Hello?" she asked.

My great-grandma has a pleasant voice, from what I remember. The last I saw her was five years ago at a Gibbler reunion. I remember her yummy fish, corn, cucumber and clam chowder she brought.

"Hi! Great-Grandma Carriee? Remember me? Kimmy? Your great-granddaughter on my dad's side? The Gibblers?"

"Oh! I remember you! I remember all the chowder you ate at the reunion! You ate so much of it, it made you sick! How are you?"

"I'm fine. It's really great to hear from you! Listen, we're on our way to your house. I gave Mr T the directions to your place. We only have a few more miles to go and then we'll be in Bloomington on the way your place!"

Great-Grandma Carriee sighed. "Well...Kimmy. I know I should have called you sooner, but there's been a change of plans."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. "Whadda mean?"

"I'm not at my house. I'm at the Mall of America. I drove to the mall to look for some cute oven mitts to put in my kitchen...but then I got hooked on this mall! Kimmy, have you been to the Mall of America before?"

"Um...no," I replied, frowning. Quite frankly, I didn't even want to go to another mall. Throught our trip, we'd been stopping in mall after mall. And I love malls, but I wasn't in the mood to go walking through another one. Listening to loud, bland, and corny music, watching little kids throw temper tantrums and walking...walking...and more walking.

I didn't really want to hurt my great-grandmother's feelings, either. So I put on a false, cheery tone in my voice and said," Uh...sure. Can't wait." I gave a reminder to myself to kick myself for lying.

"Great! Meet me at the front entrance at the mall. I'll be wearing a bright red fedora when you see me, okay? I'll see you there!"

"Okay. See you there!" I replied.

I groaned and walked out of the bathroom. Mr. T was in the middle of singing 'Polly Wolly Doodle' until I tapped his shoulder.

"Kimmy, I'm-" he began.

"There's been a change of plans, Mr. T," I replied.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I just called my great-grandma. We're not meeting her at her house. We're meeting her at the Mall of America. She's waiting for us there"

"WHOA! Did I just hear you say _The Mall of America?_" Stephanie replied. "_We're going to the Mall of America?_"

"Yeah. So what?" I asked.

"So what? _So what?_ Kimmy, do you even know about The Mall of America?"

I stood and thought about it. "Um...It belongs to the government?" I guessed.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "You can besuch a dimwit sometimes," she replied. "No. The Mall of America is the biggest mall in all of the US! It's like...the size of the Louisiana Superdome. It's got 520 stores, a movie theater, a high school,a wedding chapel,a university, an aquarium, a amusement park and plenty of nightclubs like Planet Hollywood. We have to go _there_!"

Vicky looked excited. "Oooh! Stephanie, you've been reading up on the Mall of America, too? They have a Bubba Gump Shrimp Resturant there."

"You know, I can't believe they have 520 stores there and all that other stuff. We'll find everything we need! Dad, you can probably find some good cleaning utensils around," Stephanie replied.

Mr. T grinned and nodded in agreement. "Well, who am I to ruin a good shopping trip? Okay, we're going to the Mall of America!"

We drove on. About an hour later, Mr. T followed the exit signs that pointed directly to Bloomington and The Mall of America. After we exited off the highway, we followed more signs to the mall. And then...

"There it is! I see it! Look!" D.J shouted.

What D.J. was pointing to was actually a bunch of flags. The flags were surrounded by 3D statues of each letter spelled 'T-H-E M-A-L-L-O-F-A-M-E-R-I-C-A'.

And sure enough, right in front of the mall was my great-grandmother. She was the only one wearing the fedora. She was also wearing a bright yellow tunic, tight red capri pants, black high heels and had her hair all frizzy. She reminded me of...me. I grinned. _I think she could have left the tunic at home though_, I thought.

"Wow, Kimmy...your great-grandmother looks..." Vicky began.

"She's a great mess," Stephanie remarked.

"Stephanie, don't make any more rude comments about Kimmy's great-grandmother. She may wear bright, gaudy clothes but..." Stringbean replied. He cut himself off when Great-Grandma Carriee ran to the RV.

"OOOOH! KI-MMMMM-Y!" She shrieked, scaring a few of the people coming and going out of the mall.

I opened the door of the RV and threw my arms around her. "OMIGOD!" I squealed. Great-Grandma Carriee beamed. "Kimberly Louise Gibbler, it's been five years since I last saw you. You look stunning!"

"Stunning?" I heard Stephanie mutter. I gave her a quick fleeting stare and then turned back to Great-Grandma Carriee.

"Great-Grandma Carriee, I'd like to introduce you to my second family. This is my best friend D.J," I replied, pointing to D.J. "Um...Stringbean, his wife, Squirt, and D.J's boy-"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs...Ms..." D.J replied, looking stumped on what to call my great-grandmother.

"Please. Just call me Carriee. My name is Carriee Lucille-Elizabeth-Marie Gibbler. My name has an extra e in in it. My parents meant to name me 'Carrie' but my father didn't know how to spell it, so he just assumed there were two e's in the name. Anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't catch your real names," she said, smiling.

D.J smiled back. "Well...Carriee. I'm Donna Jo Tanner, but everyone calls me D.J for short. This is my younger sister Stephanie, my boyfriend Steve Hale, my dad Danny and his fiance Vicky Larson. We have more family members, but they're down in the southern region of the United States. We're all going to Maine to see my dad's cousin."

Great-Grandma Carriee shook hands with everyone. "Nice to meet everyone. Nice to meet you, D.J. I remember Kimmy mentioning you at the reunion five years ago. You seem like a fun person."

D.J. shrugged. "Thanks," she said shyly.

Great-Grandma Carriee beamed. "Well, I assume everyone wants to go into the mall, right? Well, let's go in. But be careful. This mall is like nothing you've ever seen before!"

Great-Grandma Carriee held the door open for us and into the mall we went.

My first thought when I saw it was: Baby, check out this baby! The second I stepped in, it looked like the mall would never end. There had to be thousands of people in the place.

Stephanie jumped up and down. "Let's go to Camp Snoopy!" She replied.

"Let's go to Underwater Adventures!" D.J replied.

"No-let's go to Bubba Gump Shrimp!" Vicky replied.

"Let's shop!" Stringbean replied.

"I want to eat first," Steve replied.

"Well, you know, that's a good idea. I haven't eaten anything since I've been here. What does everyone want to eat? There are at least 30 food places here or more," Great-Grandma Carriee replied.

Mr. T looked around in awe around the whole mall. "Wow. A person could easily fit at least ten malls in this place," he replied.

Great-Grandma Carriee clapped her hands together in anticpation. "Well, I suppose we start exploring the great Mall of America. Should we split up?"

"Yes!" Everyone replied.

"Okay...If we're going to do that, then I'll go with Vicky and the rest of you can split up anyway you want." Mr.T suggested.

"I'll go with Steve," D.J replied, grabbing her boyfriend's hand.

"I want to go with Deej," Stephanie said.

"But-" I began to protest. For some reason, I was hoping D.J would want to come with me. After all, I am her best friend.

Great-Grandma Carriee grabbed my shoulder. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Kimmy. When does everyone want to meet back?"

Mr. T looked at his watch. "I guess four hours is enough time. After all, this is a huge mall. Carriee, where do you want to meet?"

"How about at the end of the day, we go to...Camp Snoopy? Is that okay?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Okay, everyone. Meet at Camp Snoopy in four hours, alright?" Mr. T said.

"Got it, Dad. See you guys later! Bye, Kimmy. Have fun with your great-grandmother," D.J said, waving as she, Steve and Stephanie disappeared in with the crowd of shoppers and tourists.

I turned around. Mr. T and Vicky were also gone. It was just me and my great-grandmother.

"Kimmy, where do you want to go first?" Great-Grandma Carriee asked.

"Uh...Anywhere you want to go," I replied, stumped. There were 520 places here, so how could I possibly choose?

"Well...We can go shopping. You have any money?"

"I brought plenty of money, but I don't know where to go. Have any suggestions?"

Great-Grandma Carriee clapped her hands. "Let's go see if they have any fish, corn, cucumber and clam chowder at any of these food places."

"I have a better idea," I replied, my mouth watering. "Let's go buy someclam chowder, find some place that has corn, buy a salad with cucumbers and buy fish chowder and mix it up. I don't think they sell that speciality here," I replied.

Great-Grandma Carriee smiled. "Good idea, Kimmy. Well, let's go if you're hungry," she said.

Finally feeling more comfortable, I put my arm around Great-Grandma Carriee and let her guide me through The Mall of America.

* * *

"Man, I'm stuffed," I replied. 

"Me, too. That was scrumptious," Great-Grandma Carriee replied, putting a hand to her belly.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

Great-Grandma moaned. "Kimmy, there are so many things to do inside this mall, I don't know what I want to do. What do _you _want to do?"

"You mean I can choose?" I asked.

"Of course. You're my great-granddaughter. It would be a crime not to let you decide something for us to do."

I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. "Let's go to Jillian's for some bowling!" I exclaimed.

"Ah...I'm a pretty good bowler. Back in my youth, when I was your age, I even had the boys beat. I was known as 'The Queen Pin'!

I laughed and put an arm around Great-Grandma Carriee. "Let's go. Maybe you can teach me some special ways to bowl."

Great-Grandma Carriee smiled. "You got it," she said.

* * *

Great-Grandma Carriee and I spent the whole day shopping, taking a quick hour to watch a movie, duck inside the aquarium, the Lego Center, and Planet Hollywood. And we still had time to talk. We talked about my family, D.J, school, my boyfriend Duane, and the trip. When I told her about our encounter with a bear in Wyoming, she laughed so hard, I thought she would wet herself. 

"Kimmy, it's just so good to see you again. Your sense of humor hasn't changed the last time I saw you," she said to me on our way to Camp Snoopy.

"I get it mostly from my dad. But D.J's friend, Joey Gladstone...now he's a riot. It's too bad you couldn't get the chance to meet him. He's funny."

We stood at the entrance way to Camp Snoopy, waiting for the others.

"Kimmy, after Camp Snoopy, you'll be leaving. I probably won't get the chance to say this to you, but I really love you. I know we've only seen other twice, but you're still my great-granddaughter and I'll always love you. You've made me very happy today. Someone my age, I don't get very many visitors and friends or whatnot. I'm glad I got the chance to see you. You've made my day."

I stood, both stunned and happy at my great-grandmother's revealations. I impulsely hugged her and she hugged back.

"Oh, this is cute," A voice replied, sounding familar. It was D.J's voice. D.J had returned with Stephanie and Steve.

"You guys have fun?" I asked.

"Yeah, we did. But you should have seen Steph. She was a total wacko," D.J said.

"I was a _nice_ wacko," Stephanie corrected.

"Whatever. Well...Dad and Vicky called me from Vicky's cell phone. They won't be joining us for Camp Snoopy. They're at Bubba Gump Shrimp, eating."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Steve exclaimed, grabbing D.J's hand.

"Wait for me!" Stephanie yelled, running after them.

I shrugged at Great-Grandma Carriee, who just laughed. The two of walked into the amusement park.

Inside thesuper-largeamusement park,all of us rode all the roller coasters and the thrill rides. Great-Grandma Carriee and I rode the fastest roller coaster together. The two of us laughed. I was a little shocked that someone her age could even ride a roller coaster.

After the park day was over, we all headed back to the RV, where Stringbean and his squeeze were waiting for us.

As everyone said good-bye and a quick thank you to Great-Grandma Carriee, I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks for spending the day with me," I said to her.

"No prob. Just remember to keep in touch with me now that we're in much better touch. I love you,"

"Me, too," I said.

I smiled at her before walking back inside the RV. Inside, everyone was talking about their day at The Mall of America.

"I've seen such a huge mall! Can we go back?" Stephanie asked Mr. T.

"Next trip, we'll see," he replied.

"So many places to eat! I've never seen so many eateries in all my life!" Steve exclaimed.

"Yeah, you must have spent at least half of your spending money on food," D.J quipped, giggling.

Steve grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Bubba Gump Shrimp was a dream! So much memorbilila from _Forrest Gump_," Vicky replied.

"They had a six-foot cardboard figure of Forrest inside the place. I took so many pictures," Mr. T said.

I didn't join into the conversation for once. I was too busy waving to Great-Grandma Carriee as we drove away from the parking lot back onto the main road. Her figure got smaller and smaller the more we drove away. And the more we drove further onwards, the more I felt I was going to miss her.


	11. Chapter Ten: Becky

Chapter Ten

Becky

_Wednesday_

_D.J., we're in New Orleans, Louisiana! **Finally! **As of right now, I'm writing this in a hotel room while in bed. There are two bedrooms in this whole suite. Michelle, Denise, Wendy and the twins are in one room, sharing the bed, I might add. Joey's sleeping on the couch with the remote in his hand, and your Uncle Jesse is next to me, in a deep sleep. Oh, did I mention Comet? He's somewhere. Oh, wait a minute...he's with Joey. _

_But me? I cannot sleep a wink. Hello! I'm in New Freakin' Orleans, one of the most popular cities in America! Tomorrow, we'll be doing our sightseeing. For now, we're gonna get our beauty sleep. This is gonna be a blast! Oh, my God! I'm so excited! _

**"O**h, my God! The Louisiana Superdome!" Joey exclaimed at breakfast.

"What's that?" Nicky asked.

Joey stuck the New Orleans pamphlet he was reading into Nicky's face. "The biggest stadium in the whole country! It's so big, that a person could fit seven high schools into the place if they wanted to! Isn't this amazing?" Joey looked extremely excited and jublant.

Nicky looked confused. He scratched his head and looked up puzzledly at the rest of us.

"Don't mind your Uncle Joey, son. I think he's let the pointless stadium facts get to his brain," Jess teased.

I took a sip of coffee. "Oh, Danny called me this morning to let us know that they've reached the Central Time Zone," I replied.

"You're kidding," Jesse said. "He actually called to let you know what _time zone_ he's in?"

"No, I'm not kidding. He said he's been paying attention to his atlas and he called me to let me know that he and the others have just crossed the Central Time Zone. I think he said that means they've already crossed half of the United States. Oh, and he also wanted to check up on Michelle."

"What'd you tell him?" Michelle asked.

"Just that you're still alive, not hurt and still fully clean."

We all rolled our eyes. I picked up my dirty dishes and put them into the dishwasher along with Nicky and Alex's. "Now that breakfast is over, does anyone have any plans? We have to move fast. Don't we have to reach Maine by next Sunday or something?"

"Yeah. We've got a lot more traveling to do. I can't believe we're almost there!" Wendy replied. "I'm looking forward to seeing Cousin Bethany again!"

"What is Bethany like, anyway?" Michelle asked. "I remember reading Dad's postcard saying she has four kids or something. That's all I know."

Wendy pursed her lips in thought. "From what I remember of her, she was a tomboy. I rarely saw her in a dress or a skirt. Bethany was prone to being overexcited about even the smallest thing. She loved listening to the Beatles a lot, from what I can remember of her. Her bedroom was a museum of Beatles memorbillia. Posters, lunchboxes, books...you name it. Her room was also very messy, which she and Danny often argued about. Danny hated messes and would always throw a fit if he saw one article of clothing or even a shoe on the floor."

"He's still the same way today," Jesse remarked, which made Michelle and Joey laugh.

Wendy smiled. "You guys will love her. Danny and Bethany haven't seen each other in awhile, but for the past ten years or so, they were still exchanging stories. That's how she knew about Pam and the girls and Jesse, even though she's never met them. She's just as awesome now as she is today."

I picked up the journal D.J. had given me and flipped through it. I wanted to have something to write about. I read Joey's entry about Arizona, Denise's about Texas, the entry I had dictated for Nicky in Four Corners and Michelle's entry about the San Diego Zoo. I wanted something interesting, too.

"I guess we'd better get going if we're going to tour New Orleans," I said.

Jesse nodded. "Can you believe all the hip jazz clubs they've got down here?"

"I thought you said you didn't want to come here!" I accused, remembering our little spat in the RV on the way to the zoo.

"I snuck your pamphlet when you weren't looking and read up a little on New Orleans. I've heard the jazz clubs are out of this world."

I rolled my eyes. When it came to music, there was no fooling around with Jesse.

"Okay, okay. I guess if everyone wants to go to different places, we can all split up. I'm going to give myself a little cultural tour of New Orleans. Anyone want to come with me?"

Joey shook his head. "Not me," he replied.

Michelle and Denise had 'Don't even think of asking me' all over their faces. Jesse kept clearing his throat and Wendy was shuffling her feet.

"We'll come with you, Mommy," Alex and Nicky chorused.

Trust my two loving sons to always stick by me. I grabbed them up and gave them each a kiss.

"Thanks, boys. We're gonna have such _fun_!" I replied, emphasizing the word 'fun' to the others. I went to freshen up and change. Afterwards,when everyone else had went their own separate ways, I got the twins dressed and put into a stroller.

_There's so much to do here, but only one day to do it!_ I thought frantically. How was I going to get everything done?

It suddenly dawned on me that I had my Frommer's New Orleans tourbook. I had bought it the day before we left San Francisco. Scanning where I'd left off, I read what was written: _"If you've got only one day in New Orleans, don't despair - the city is small enough for you to be able to get a taste of what it's all about in one day."_

I frowned. _That wasn't too helpful,_ I thought dejectedly.

"Mommy, when are leaving?" Alex asked.

"Soon, honey, soon," I told him.

"How _soon?_" Nicky added impatiently.

"As soon as I finish this part in the book," I assured.

The sentence went on, I found. _" I'd suggest that you get there early in the morning and head to Cafe du Monde for beignets and coffee. Then follow the walking tour of the French Quarter..."_

_Hmmm...that doesn't sound too bad,_ I thought. Even though I had breakfast; scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice and _coffee,_I was still curious to find out about the culture of New Orleans, starting with the food everyone ate. I had no idea what beignets were but I was willing to find out.

"Okay, boys. We're going to a cafe to eat breakfast," I told them after I tucked the book away.

"But we already had breakfast," Nicky replied.

"That's okay. I guess we can have two meals," I said, smiling.

"Yay!" Alex and Nicky yelled.

So we headed to Cafe du Monde. After glancing at my map and walking around for nearly twenty minutes, trying to find the place, I finally found it at last. I opened the door and ducked inside. The cafe was a very homey-looking place._ Very old fashioned._

"Hey, there! Can I help you, madam?"A plump-looking African-American woman asked. She rubbed her hands on her apron.

I smiled at her sheepishly. "Before I do, can you just tell me what beignets are? I want to try them but I have no clue what they are."

The woman smiled and nodded. I guessed she'd answered the same question to plenty of tourists a day. "Well, madam. Beignets are a French doughnut. They're square pieces of dough that we fry and then cover with powdered sugar when they're done," she told me.

"Hmmm...they sound just the same way fried dough is made!" I exclaimed.

The woman laughed. "Yes. They do, they sure do. Would you like some beignets? We serve them to all our customers in orders of three."

"I'd like some. And some coffee for me and hot chocolate for my boys here," I said, pointing to Nicky and Alex.

The woman peered over and smiled at the boys. "Oh, you have twins! They're the cutest things ever! Oh, how are you?"

"We're good," Alex said cheerfully.

"I like the smell in here. It smells like pancakes," Nicky added.

"Well, wait 'till you taste the beignets. They taste ten times better than pancakes!" the woman replied. She grinned at me. "Cute boys you got there," she replied.

"Thanks," I said. The woman went to the task of frying up some fresh beignets. A minute or two later, she came up and handed us our food. "You know, if you want, you can buy some of Cafe du Monde's beignet mix and follow the recipe. Would you like a box?" she asked.

I thought about making beignets in Maine and back in San Francisco. The rest of the family were going to love them.

"Sure. In fact, can I buy five boxes?" I asked.

The woman looked a little stunned, but she agreed. She rang up my purchases. After I paid up, I pushed the stroller out the door (Nicky and Alex waved to the woman.).

We sat down outside on a bench nearby the cafe and ate the beignets. And they were _delicious_.

"These are yummy!" Alex exclaimed, biting into his beignet.

Nicky simply nodded, his mouth full.

I laughed. "They'll be plenty of time to eat more because I bought mix to make more of these!" I exclaimed.

The twins cheered while waiting for their hot chocolate to cool.

I picked up my tourbook and continued reading. The Frommer's guide went on into the French Quarter. According to the guide, it mentioned the French Quarter being 'the most colorful part of what is arguably the most interesting city in the United States.'

Going to the French Quarter seemed to be very cultural, so after I finished my beignet and coffee, I waited for five minutes until the boys finished their beignets and hot chocolate. Then we left, with me glancing at my map, looking for the French Quarter.

Well, guess what? We got lost. It took nearly an hour to find it. I had to ask people for directions. And when we _finally_ arrived, I was exhausted. Nicky and Alex fell asleep in the stroller.

The book listed at least thirty-four stops on the tour of the French Quarter and I wanted to see them all.

I yawned and stretched out my arms. I had a long way to go.

* * *

You'd never believe it, but I'm actually done with the walking tour of the French Quarter! I couldn't believe all the things I saw and the people I met along the way. I'd met a jazz musician named Rita Valentine inside a sandwich shop.She's a black woman my age and she's been singing all over Louisiana in bars and clubs, both big and small, including plenty of them on Bourbon St, a famous street at the French Quarter. I told her that my husband was also a musician. 

Nicky and Alex were all the rave with the people I met. Everyone kept waving to the twins or stopping to tell me how cute they were.

When the boys weren't a topic of discussion, there was this one guy who fished in nearby Kenner, who told me the story about his twin brother who worked as a baker in New Orleans, making croissants. His brother was in the shop one day making more croissants when an order was filled to make a batch of them for Fats Domino, who is a big jazz musician. Rita mentioned to me that'd she met him more than once.

As I listened to all the stories and visited all the places, it came to me just how wonderful this city is. The people and the history.And most importantly, the music. Rita invited me to come see her perform later on the evening and I accepted. I couldn't wait to hear her. But I told her I wanted to bring my family.

"Sure. Bring everyone you know. I don't care if you bring the President of the United States - I just wanna have everybody hear me sing!" she exclaimed.

* * *

Later that evening, back in the hotel room, everyone was getting ready to go to the House of Blues, which was on Bourbon Street. I'd told everyone about Rita and they looked forward to going. 

"Seems cool. I've never met a real-live jazz musician before. Hey, do they have stand-up comedy there?" Joey asked.

"Of course they don't. That's why it's called the House of _Blues_," Jesse replied.

Joey continued to look dumbfounded.

"Ah, forget it," Jesse said, shaking his head. Then he turned his attention to me. "Honey, you look gorgeous," he said to me.

I was wearing my simple black sundress with a pair of black high-heeled sandals with my hair in a french braid.

"Thanks," I replied, kissing his cheek. "Not too shabby yourself."

He was wearing a white dress shirt with a few of the buttons undone (Something very sexy, if you ask me), black pants, patent leather black shoes and a black suit jacket.

He kissed me gently and I began to swoon before Joey interrupted us.

"Let's go while we're young, okay?" he teased, tapping his watch.

I nodded. "Okay, okay. Let's go. Girls, are you ready?" I asked to Michelle, Denise and Wendy.

"We're ready!"

"Okay, then. We have to be at the House of Blues in twenty minutes. Let's go before there's nowhere to sit!"

Rita had told me the House of Blues was a hotspot at night. Usually, when you showed up late, there was hardly anywhere to sit.

After the girls came out of their room, we were out the door. We took two taxis to the HOB rather than drive the RV or walk.

Outside the HOB, I spotted Rita right away near the entrance.

"Rita!" I exclaimed, waving to her.

"Rebecca! Is this your family? Hey, how is everyone?" she asked.

Everyone exchanged greetings and conversation. Afterwards, Rita led everyone to the entrance. "These are some friends of mine. I invited them to the show," she replied to the ticket lady and the bouncer. They both nodded.

When were inside, Rita sat us down at a table. "Enjoy yourselves, y'all. We're gonna rock the _house_. I'll see you soon. I have to do rehearsal, makeup and hair. I'll see you after the show," she said, waving.

"'Bye. Nice meeting you," Jesse replied. After she was gone, he turned to me. "This is great. I guess New Orleans isn't too bad after all."

"So, you're admitting it's not just aboutboring French museums then?" I asked.

Jesse blushed. "I guess not," he admitted.

I kissed his cheek. "Well, that'll teach you to never judge a book by its cover," I said.

"Does that mean you'll give Graceland a try?" he asked.

I winced slightly at the thought of going to that Elvis museum, but I nodded. After all, I would be hypocritical if I told Jesse I didn't want to go to Graceland.

"Okay. You've got a deal," I replied.

Twenty minutes later, the emcee came up to the stage. A huge crowd began to cheer.

"What's up, what's up!" The emcee asked the crowd. We all clapped and cheered.

The emcee nodded enthusiastically. "That's what I wanna hear! Yeah!"

He picked up the mic. "Welcome to the House of Blues, ladies and gentleman. In the one hour that you're here, you are gonna hear the best jazz musicians that we could find fromall over New Orleans. We've got pianists, saxphonists, girl groups, scat singers...you name it, we've got them. The first person I want to bring to the stage is a man who got jazz in his blood. He learned how to play saxphone when he was four and now, he's here today. He's playing an original song on his sax called 'I Love My Baby Much More' - Here's Stuart Jackson!"

We clapped and watched Stuart come out with his sax. And boy, could he blow! After he was done, I gave him a standing ovation.

"Man, he was _good_!" Denise raved.

I nodded my agreement.

The emcee brought out three more entertainers before Rita. After a girl group named the Belles finished their piece, the emcee introduced Rita.

"She's a natural around Louisiana. She's been performing ever since she was eighteen. Performing her original song 'Mother's Song', let's hear it for Rita Valentine!"

The music played and Rita's soft, crystal-clear voice resounded all over the blues club. I was absolutely spellbound by her beauty and her voice.

_Mother, I love you. Mother, I care about you. In case you don't know this, I sang this song for you._

I loved the lyrics. She sang them so clearly and truthfully, I wanted to cry. I knew there weren't any local musicians in San Francisco who sounded like Rita.

After she was done, she took a bow. I bolted up and gave her a standing ovation. I was up longer for her than I was for Stuart.

The emcee saw me and he chuckled. "Looks like Ms. Valentine's got a #1 fan," he said.

Everyone chuckled and kept clapping. I blushed and sat back down.

The emcee launched into the rest of the show afterwards and we enjoyed it. After the last act had performed and the emcee closed out the show, we all made our way to the door. Rita was waiting for us outside again.

"Rebecca! Did you enjoy the performances?" she asked.

"I loved them! Rita, you were amazing!" I replied.

"Yeah - You can really sing!" Michelle piped up.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Well, thank you very much. I'm glad you liked my singing. I'm in the process of recording a demo. I don't have it recorded yet, but I'll be more than happy to give you all one. After all, I have fans, but no one from California!"

I hugged her. "So glad I met you. You're awesome!"

Rita smiled. "Keep in touch, Rebecca," she said.

"Of course I will," I said.

After a few pictures were taken and our addresses were written down, we all had to go back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, I got ready for bed. But before I got in bed with Jesse, I was at the kitchen table writing in my journal.

_New Orleans is a spectcular city. The people, the stories, the places and the music is what makes this city so great. I will never forget the people I met and the places I visited and the food I ate (I love beignets now!) will always stick with me whenever I think of the heart of a city. _

And with that, I put the journal back in my suitcase, snuggled up with Jesse and went to sleep.

_AN: I dedicate this chapter to the city of New Orleans and all of the hurricane victims of Katrina and Rita. God be with you._


	12. Chapter Eleven: Danny

_AN: Sorry about the long update. I have the next installment of this story. So far, I have only four chapters left to write about. Hope you like this chapter!_

Chapter Eleven

Danny

_Thursday_

_Made it to Chicago. Stayed about a day. Now we're contining our long journey. How was Chicago? Most people think it's a great city, but I personally think there's really nothing to write home about it. _

_They've got the Sears Tower and Wrigley Field and all that, but what else? Not only that, but I think it could stand to be cleaned. San Francisco is pretty dirty, too, don't get me wrong, but Chicago is worst! (And don't get me started on New York City and Boston - Whoa!) But Chicago is by far the -_

_**Dad, you're supposed to be writing about how the trip to Chicago was - not about how polluted it is. Chicago's a cool city nonetheless.**_

_Thank you, D.J. for snatching the pen out of my hands. Okay, let me cancel out everything I said before and give a recap of what happened in Chicago today: Went to the Sears Tower this morning after breakfast, went with Vicky to watch a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show, went with Steph to the Museum of Science and Industry. That was where we bumped into good ol' Steve Urkel. He's the same as always - suspenders and all. He and Stephanie remembered each other and picked up where they left off with Stephanie and her eyeglass dilemma. Steve is just as annoying as he was when we first met him. But the kid knows his stuff when it comes to science._

_Oh, and we all went together to Wrigley Field to see a game, but don't ask me who played. As much as I love sports, baseball has never really been a favorite of mine - it's too dirty, if you ask me. In fact, I-_

_**Thanks, Dad. You've written quite well. Remember, I'm handing this in as a school project. Don't think my teacher wants to know your opinions about the lack of cleaniness with baseball. We're in the state of Pennsylvania , after hours and hours of driving. We're cramped and bored, but I think we'll stopping soon, because our next stop is Washington, D.C., Stephanie's choice. Sounds like it could be cool...Sorry for rambling and sorry for snatching the pen, Dad. **_

_**D.J.**_

**"D**o you think we'll see the President when we arrive?" Stephanie asked, looking up from one of her chapter books.

I had to chuckle at that. Seeing the president is a one-in-a-lifetime chance. Getting to meet him up close was probably the same as getting the chance to meet the Queen of England. _Extremely_ rare. Joey had actually gotten the honor of meeting her, but then totally screwed up when everyone thought he was trying to create an international incident by trying to assassinate her when he was only trying to take a picture of her.

Typical Joey, but still, even for him or any other normal civilian, it was rare to meet a politician or royality.

I didn't want to crush Stephanie's hopes, so I nodded and told her yes, it was a possibility.

Kimmy snorted a laugh. "You're such a doofus!" She exclaimed to Stephanie. "Who cares about meeting the President? It's his kids I wanna see! Think he has any hot sons?"

I rolled my eyes. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard Kimmy's complete stupidity, I'd be a rich man.

Stephanie shook her head simply, without even looking at Kimmy. "He's got children, but none of them are our age. He's got a five-year-old daughter and eight-year-old triplet boys."

Kimmy's face fell. "Oh," Was she said.

"Well, don't you find at least _something_ interesting in our nation's capital besides cute boys, Kimmy?" Vicky asked.

"Don't even bother asking her that, honey. You'll corrupt her brain stems with knowledge," I wisecracked.

"Well, I would like to go to the National Mall," Kimmy replied.

That's when I burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kimmy demanded, scowling.

I had to wipe my eyes before I could stop laughing. When I recovered enough to talk, I turned to Kimmy.

"You want to go to the _National Mall?_ Kimmy, do you even know what the National Mall_ is_?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's a shopping mall. It's Washington D.C.'s mall, right?"

I laughed even harder. Vicky was giving me looks, but I ignored them.

Stephanie looked up from her book and sighed. "Kimmy, the National Mall is _not_ a shopping mall. It's a large area in the middle of D.C. with different monuments of our former presidents. You know, like the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Things like that."

Kimmy's mouth dropped open. "You can't be serious! Here I was, planning to go to the mall and then finding out it's not a mall? Oh, God. This is gonna be _so_ boring now!" She fell into the chair next to D.J. and Steve.

"I don't think D.C. will be boring. It sounds quite cool. Don't you think so, Steve?" D.J. asked.

Steve nodded his agreement. "Absolutely. D.C. rocks."

Kimmy didn't look convinced. She only closed her eyes and moaned. "I'm on vacation to have fun - not learn a bunch of nerd stuff!" She exclaimed dramatically.

Stephanie and I looked at each other with amusement.

* * *

By 2pm, we checked into a hotel. The kids were hanging out in the lobby, so Vicky and I went to our room to unpack. As I was opening a suitcase, Vicky kissed me softly unexpectanly. 

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Ever since we left, we've hardly had anytime together. Can you kiss me again? Please? _Puh-leeeeeeese_?" she begged.

As much as I wanted to return Vicky's favor, I knew we had work to do. There were clothes and other items everywhere on the beds, chairs and the floor. And God knows I can't stand messy rooms.

"We've got to get unpacked first and then-"

At that moment , Stephanie came charging into the room at top-speed.

"You guys won't believe who's here right now!" She exclaimed, looking out of breath.

"Who?" I asked, not stopping my work of picking up clothes.

"You'll never guess - the First Lady's here! In this hotel! You guys, we just _have_ to meet her!"

Stephanie looked flustered and excited.

"What's she doing here?" I asked.

"She's in the lobby, signing autographs of her new book. Dad, can we please go see her? Please? _Puh-leeeeeeeeeeese?_ I won't ask you for anything else on this whole trip. I promise!"

"Yeah. Sounds fun to me. Let's go, honey," Vicky replied, grabbing my hand.

With that, the three of us went inside the elevator all the way down. It's a glass elevator, so you can see all the way down to the lobby and up into the sky.

When we reached the lobby and the doors opened up, the lobby was jam-packed full of people. Everyone was waiting in line to see the First Lady, a fairly young, dark-haired woman wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt.Not what I was expecting to see on the First Lady, but she looked down-to-earth. She had all her kids with her and all the Secret Service agents were surrounding them. She was signing books for people and having brief conversations with them, smiling.

"Wow, what do you think happened to her suit?" I asked.

"She must be a tomboy. Not that that's a bad thing," Vicky said, frowning at me.

"I never said it was. I just-"

"Guys! Shhh!" Stephanie shushed.

We quickly shut our mouths.

About an hour and a half later, we were finally in front of the line. Stephanie was shaking. My hands were pretty shaky, too. I've interviewed a lot of interesting people on _Wake Up, San Francisco,_ but the First Lady was by far the most interesting person to meet.

When the hotel assistant escorted Stephanie to the table, the second she stood in front of the First Lady, she froze.

Vicky and I looked at each other. I walked over to the hotel assistant. "Excuse me? Could we possibly get through to check on that girl over there? She's my daughter and-"

"Well...three's the limit if you're with someone. Is she with you, too?" he asked, pointing at Vicky.

"Yes, I am," she told him.

"Okay. Come through, but make it quick. We've got at least 200 more people waiting in line."

We nodded and joined Stephanie, still standing stock frozen.

"Oh, are you this lovely young lady's parents?" the First Lady asked, smiling at us.

Stephanie looked up at me, hesitantly.

"Go ahead, sweetie," I assured her.

Stephanie nodded and then walked up to the First Lady and shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie Tanner. I'm eleven and I live in San Francisco. It's really nice to meet you," she said breathlessly.

The First Lady smiled at Stephanie. "Nice to meet you, Stephanie. Are these your parents?" she asked.

"Well, that's my dad, Danny and his fiancee, Vicky. They have their own TVshow where we live."

The First Lady looked interested. "Oh, really? What kind of show?" she asked.

"It's just a local morning TV talk show. It's really nice to meet you, Ms. First Lady," I replied, reaching out to shake her hand. (My hand was terribly sweaty. Hope she didn't notice.)

"Pleasure's all mine. Well, do you have a book for me to sign?"

"We don't have one. I never got a chance to buy one, but I've still heard all about you. I think you're amazing, what you've done for this country, as far as children are concened, " Stephanie replied.

The First Lady beamed. "Thank you, Stephanie. That's a nice thing to say. I do what I can, you know. I've helped out in soup kitchens, women's homeless shelters, orphananges and other places I can help out with kids. Oh, speaking of children, meet my own kids. This is my daughter Gabrielle-Ann and my sons Phillip, Tyler and Jesse. The nanny's sick, so I had to bring themwith me to the signing. Say hello, you guys," she told her children.

All her kids waved hello shyly.

"We have a uncle named Jesse, too," Stephanie told the First Lady. "He likes the way you keep your hair," she added.

The First Lady chuckled. "Oh, well tell him that the First Lady said thank you. I love men who like hair."

We laughed. Then the First Lady motioned for one of the Secret Service agents. The agent walked over to her and she whispered to him. He then ran down the hall. A second or so later, he came back holding a Polaroid camera. He handed it to the First Lady.

"Well, since you guys don't have a book for me to sign, how about you take a picture with me and I'll sign it for you? How's that sound?"

Stephanie's eyes widened. "Cool!" she exclaimed.

The First Lady laughed. "I take that as a yes then," she said, winking at Vicky and me.

In a mere few seconds,all of us bunched up together - Stephanie, Vicky, the First Lady, her children and I while one of the hotel assistants snapped a quick photo.

After the picture came out, the First Lady quickly signed it. After she'd signed it, she handed it to Stephanie.

"It was nice meeting you, Stephanie. You're a really intelligent girl. Good luck with you. Oh, and Mr. Tanner? I'd like to appear on your show soon. Is that alright?"

I was floored. I didn't know what to say.

"Say yes," Vicky hissed in my ear.

"Uh, sure. Absolutely. Why not? We'll have a little party, while we're at it. Whaddya say, huh?"

Stephanie looked like she wanted to die.

Vicky tugged my sleeve. "Let's go, sweetheart. Steph, let's go. It was nice meeting you, First Lady," she said, sensing Stephanie's embarassement.

After we'd left the line, Stephanie shook her head. "Never again will you come again with _me_ in public," she muttered, walking ahead of us. She was smiling, though.

* * *

All throughout dinner, Stephanie kept talking about our brief encounter with the First Lady. 

"She's soooooo cool! I wish you guys had gotten the chance to meet her. She's amazing," she was telling D.J., Steve and Kimmy.

"Where were_ you_ guys anyway?" Vicky asked.

D.J. smiled at Steve and then at Kimmy. "We took Kimmy out to see the sights. Took her to the Library of Congress, U.S. Capitol, Jefferson National Cemetary...all the important places here."

"We got someone to take a picture of us in front of the White House, but nothing compares to meeting the First Lady! Steph, I'm envious of you!" Steve exclaimed.

Stephanie grinned.

"And did you learn anything from your experience, Kimmy? Dare I ask?" I asked her.

Kimmy shrugged. "Yeah, I did. Everything was cool. I did meet a hot guy here, though. So my plans didn't really go to waste. I met him in the Library of Congress. Who knew such a hottie could be in such a place like the library? I mean, the only ones that hang out in a library are geeks and dweebs. Took me completely by surprise to see him. Oh! We have a date tonight! I promised I'd meet him at this movie theater downtown. Gotta go!"

She got up from her seat and grabbed her coat.

"See ya, Kimmy! And give me details when you come back!" D.J. called after her.

"I will!" Kimmy yelled back, closing the door behind her.

"Ahh, so glad she's gone," Stephanie sighed with relief.

We laughed.

Vicky got up and picked up her plate to put in the dishwasher.

"What are our plans for tomorrow?" She asked.

"We have to be in Maine by Saturday, so...if we play our cards right, we might be able to make a stop somewhere in perhaps Connecticut or Massachusetts by Friday evening," I replied.

"So, we're leaving tomorrow morning then?" Stephanie asked.

I nodded.

Stephanie sighed. "I don't want this vacation to come to an end. It's been fun."

I nodded in agreement. "It sure has," I agreed.


End file.
